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HSR- Multiversal Projection Chapter 78
🕑 Added 2025-09-15 03:00:02 +0000 UTCChapter 78: 「 Animated Short: A Flash • Part Two 」
Chapter 78: 「 Animated Short: A Flash • Part Two 」
~Bleach World~
“Hey, you... You were just excited, weren't you?”
In the present world, inside the Urahara Shop.
Kisuke Urahara leaned forward, his eyes gleaming as he stared at the young woman with wheat-colored skin on the sofa.
“It's been ages since I've seen you this excited... You didn't look like this when you saw Hiyori last time.”
“Of course, because Hiyori's movements were more inexperienced... She's the talented type, more gifted than I was in my youth.”
“Oh? And what about this one?”
Urahara pointed his ramen chopsticks at the white-haired woman on the screen.
“As for her...”
Yoruichi Shihōin sat down across from him, crossing her arms after a few seconds of thought.
“...I'm not sure. Her movements during the fight with Jing Yuan were similar to Shunpo, but there were subtle differences. Hmm... how should I put it? It felt more like an instinctual reaction?”
Yoruichi's eyes narrowed like a cat's.
“If it's instinct... then this woman must have been through countless battles. You can't develop that kind of reaction speed without walking through endless killing fields.”
“To be praised by the 'Goddess of Flash' Yoruichi... how rare.”
Urahara leaned back on the sofa, lazily crossing his legs. His face still wore that carefree smile, but beneath the brim of his hat, his gaze was filled with concern.
“Something on your mind?”
He asked.
“Distracted during such an exciting fight? That's not like you.”
“Mm, I'm just a little curious.”
Yoruichi showed an expression of both puzzlement and pity.
“Jing Yuan is her disciple, and she's the master. Judging from the current battle, she's trained this disciple exceptionally well... I just can't understand why she would go all out to kill such an outstanding student?”
“Besides, her disciple even became a general, practically the pillar of the Xianzhou. In modern terms, that's... a 'top graduate,' right?”
“That, I don't know.”
Urahara shrugged.
“Looking at her bloodthirsty expression, I'd guess she's being controlled by something? Her eyes in her youth... well, they were quite pure.”
“Cough, pure...”
Yoruichi nearly choked on her spit.
“You're using that word to describe a swordswoman who's killed who knows how many people?”
“...It's probably the most distant and unfamiliar word in her life.”
—
「 Jing Yuan barely dodged, but still lost a lock of hair.
Under the icy sword glare, he seemed to see a great fire... a fire that blotted out the sky.
It was a scene he witnessed centuries ago, when he was still a Cloud Knight guard—a former Cloud Knight turned monster roaring amidst the collapsed ruins.
“Master... he doesn't remember us anymore.”
Back then, Jing Yuan was still young, so young his voice would tremble.
But before his words faded, a strand of moonlight, as if stolen from the heavens, pierced through the monster's chest in a flash.
The monster's roar abruptly ceased.
“This is what happens when one falls into the Mara-struck state.”
Accompanying the voice, cold as snow, was a face both beautiful and chillingly distant. Jingliu stood sideways, as if forever keeping others at arm's length.
“The Mara-struck is the fate of the long-lived. If one day I succumb to it, you must not hesitate.”
Her words were as firm as ever, but in his master's eyes, Jing Yuan caught a fleeting glimpse of sorrow... and numbness.
“She must have seen this countless times before...”
“Yes... Master.” Just like when he was a child, those were the only words he could muster in response to his master's admonition. 」
「 。。。。。」
~Touken Ranbu World~
Japan, Tokyo.
“Calling her 'Master' over and over... what a good, obedient student—too bad I prefer the unruly ones.”
Yamanbagiri Kunihiro stubbed his cigar into the ashtray, his gaze dropping to the tantō balanced on his wrist.
“The weapons aren't evenly matched, Mikazuki... Tell me—could you outpace that white-haired witch in the sky?”
“Hoho...”
Mikazuki Munechika turned to Yamanbagiri with a meaningful smile.
His Noble Art was "Shunpo," and at his prime’s 128x acceleration, he’d been christened "The Moonlit Saint" of the Citadel. Were he to unleash his swiftest iaijutsu, no foe would glimpse more than a glint of light—as fleeting as a star’s wink.
To them, his sword would appear as nothing but a faint glimmer in the air.
In his youth, Mikazuki had heard tales of Eastern swordsmen who devoted lifetimes to their craft, their blades carving paths from dawn to dusk. Such artistry was... sublime. A poetry of solitude sharp enough to slice through time itself.
Young Mikazuki had once dreamed of witnessing such skill, but now... on the brink of old age, he had yet to see it.
Not long ago, he had fought Yamanbagiri in a duel—one that finally allowed him to touch the pinnacle of his life.
Ninth Step Shunpo: 516x Godspeed Slash.
That day, his Onimaru Kunitsuna shattered sound itself. The air screamed. Crimson scattered like petals on the dojo floor—Yamanbagiri’s shoulder seeping red through black cloth.
A 516x slash might graze the Saniwa’s favorite. But that woman on the light screen? Mikazuki’s laugh was a dry leaf crumbling. Her sword wasn’t steel; it was starlight given form. A beauty beyond his century of dreams.
Her swordsmanship wasn't Iaido—it was art. The kind of art he could never have imagined, no matter how long he lived.
Mikazuki closed his eyes. The fantasy of his youth had finally become reality, 65 years later.
“Tenth Step—can you do it, old man?”
Yamanbagiri blew smoke rings and kicked Mikazuki’s kotatsu.
"At that speed, you might nip a strand of her hair. Weren’t you the one who sniffed maidens’ braids in your heyday?"
“I'm an old man now, Headmaster,”
Mikazuki sighed hoarsely.
“Are you assigning me homework for my next life?”
—
「 Much later, Jing Yuan saw his master again in the Shackling Prison.
“Gah, ah—!” In the shadows, his master was curled up on the ground, her face—once as cold and unchanging as ice—now twisted in agony.
“Those who fall to the Mara-struck lose all reason and humanity. Leave, Jing Yuan. Jingliu is already gone.”
Listening to the prison warden's words, Jing Yuan stared at his master in disbelief. 」
「 。。。。。」
~Demon Slayer World~
“His closest master turned into a monster... how tragic.”
The Stone Pillar clasped his hands, tears streaming down his face.
“But haven't you noticed? Jingliu's Mara-struck state is different from others.”
The Insect Pillar spotted the anomaly.
“Her body doesn't seem to be sprouting branches or anything.”
“True... Could it be that her Mara-struck form isn't physical, but mental?”
The Serpent Pillar suddenly added.
—
( Translator-kun: First time hearing the Touken Ranbu lore. So I'm not sure if the input name translated from Touken Ranbu is corrected; if not, let me know. )
