Anime: Fight Sukuna at the beginning?.

Chapter 367 Shadow of the Past
After falling asleep, the swordsman lady saw scenes flashing before her eyes, switching rapidly like movie reels.
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I don’t know how many years ago in Kyoto, [Imbuji Temple].

“General, General.

"What about that big brother who's a little ugly but gives us snacks?"

The voices of many children came to the ears of Okita Souji, who came to Mibu-dera Temple in Kyoto as usual to play with the children.

This caused the swordsman, who was feeling uneasy after killing his target and getting his hands covered in blood, to be stunned.

After looking at his companion beside him and hesitating for a moment.

The swordsman, who loved children very much and was almost like a "king of children", responded in a way that the children could understand.

"Are you talking about that fat swordsman?

"He went to a faraway place to do something important."

Then, she took the snacks from her companion who looked a little haggard and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

He narrowed his eyes and smiled to comfort the disappointed children.

“There are still snacks, one for each person.

"We won't be playing the previous game today. This older brother and I will play hide-and-seek with you.

"I'll be the 'ghost', so everyone better hide!"

The children did not suspect anything and first surrounded the swordsman lady and took a piece of dessert each.

Then, when the swordsman lady closed her eyes and counted down, they dispersed while shouting happily.
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The next moment, the scene in front of Miss Swordsman's eyes changed again.

It was still Mibuji Temple, and still those children surrounding him.

It was only after he saw that the only person coming to the temple gate was Okita Souji.

The children naively asked the questions in their hearts.

"Master, why are you alone?

"Where's that tall, somewhat weathered uncle?"

Thinking of her dead companion, the swordsman leaned forward.

He forced a smile and responded to the children.

“He also went to a faraway place to do a mission.

“I won’t be back for a while.

"Today, I'll be the ghost again!"

The children let out some disappointed shouts.

"Hey! Souji is too fast. We can't outrun him."

But the children finally dispersed happily.

The swordsman lady who acted as the 'ghost' began to search for them.
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It's a brand new scene again.

It is still [Mibuji Temple].

"Soji, what's wrong with you?!"

The children standing in the temple looked at the swordsman named Okita Souji who suddenly covered his chest while playing, and couldn't help but ask in confusion.

His physical pain flared up from time to time, and he had been excluded from the Shinsengumi's battle sequence.

The swordsman, who was worried about not being able to fight with his companions and would soon be going to a distant place for recuperation, opened his eyes.

She forced a smile at the children.

"It's okay, just a cold.

"Sorry, it looks like I can't play with you today.

"I can only let Kitty play with you."

Watching the swordsman slowly stand up and stagger away.

The child waved nervously and offered a simple blessing.

"Goodbye, Souji!"

"After you recover, you must come again!"

But no matter how many times the children came later.

The children of that temple never saw the swordsman again.

The reason is also very simple.

A swordsman named Okita Souji suffers from an incurable disease.

The disease soon claimed her life.

Her life was forever frozen at the end of May in the fourth year of Yingqing.
-
As the "film" finished playing, Okita Souji, realizing that he was in a dream, opened his eyes.

Successfully 'woke up'.

The somewhat panicked swordsman lady reached out like a drowning person trying to grab a straw.

Subconsciously looking for the man's figure.

【Master! Where is the Master?】

But she did not see her Master, nor did she see the Matou residence.

What came into view was a scene that was vaguely familiar to her - a moldy and leaky ceiling.

The swordsman lying on the bed just turned her head slightly and looked around at her surroundings.

Then I saw a scene that gave me a sense of déjà vu.

An almost empty room.

She was currently in a rather simple, even 'barren' room.

The room was empty except for the thin blanket covering her as she lay on the tatami.

Apart from the clothes next to the pillow, there was nothing else.

Seeing this scene, the swordsman lady was in a trance for a moment.

And after being stimulated by the somewhat cold air, he could faintly smell the slightly bitter smell of medicine in the air.

Those somewhat stubborn memories emerged in her mind bit by bit.

This gave her a basic understanding of the scene she was in.

[This seems familiar. This seems to be the residence where I stayed for recuperation before I died?]

[But when I wake up, shouldn't I be next to the Master? ]

The swordsman lady raised her hand and prepared to push away the thin blanket covering her body and walk out to further verify her guess.

[Is this a dream within a dream? Let's go out and take a look.]

But she had just pushed away the thin blanket covering her body and had not yet had time to sit up and walk further out of the room to look at the surrounding environment.

Her frail body reacted to the somewhat cold air in the room.

Her body subconsciously shuddered violently.

Once this chill came, it was like lighting the fuse of a bomb.

It triggered a violent coughing that felt like vomiting out all the internal organs.

The coughing caused her slender and frail body to bend down and then rise up uncontrollably.

Like a flag fluttering in the wind.

【here it is】
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It took several minutes to 'tame' the body so that it stopped coughing.

The swordsman lady has noticed that her body has become weak again and has returned to her [sickly] state.

He just sighed softly, and then muttered something in a somewhat frustrated tone.

"Really? With the Master's help, I'm no longer [weak] and am now full of energy.

“As a result, in my dream, I turned into this again!

"What a terrible dream."

Although she didn't see the familiar street, she had already made an assessment of the current situation.

Now she is in a dream that is extremely real.

And this dream reflected the place where she spent part of her life.

It was also the room where she recuperated and witnessed her death.

[It’s better to wake up quickly, get rid of this dream, and go find the Master! ]

However, the next moment the swordsman lady made up her mind.

There was a vague cat meow in her ears, as if a video had started playing by pressing the play button.

It seemed as if he was luring her out to check.
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"Cat?"

Hearing the cat's meow next to her ear, the swordsman lady couldn't help but feel a little confused.

It is said that you have something to think about every day and something to dream about at night.

Most of the dreams people have are closely related to what they think in their hearts.

She was previously worried that she would not be able to accompany the man to fight to the end.

He believed that since he did not fight alongside his companions and finally died of illness, he was not worthy of standing under the "Flag of Sincerity".

It makes sense that the dream I'm in is this 'death scene'.

But she clearly remembered that there should have been no cats in this place where she was recuperating from the beginning to the end.

The swordsman lady, vaguely sensing the importance of this cat, made a decision.

【Let’s go out and take a look.】

Just as she was trying hard to pick up the clothes at hand and prepare to put them on, the swordsman lady was stunned.

Because at this moment, what was placed beside her pillow was not the light green haori that was supposed to be there, but an extremely gorgeous cherry-colored coat that she planned to treasure.

【This is what Master gave me when we first met! 】

The swordsman lady's fingers touched the coat, and she felt a sudden warmth even before she put it on.

The lingering pain in my body seemed to have lessened a bit.

After stroking the coat and thinking about the man's figure.

The swordsman lady couldn't help but reveal an extremely sweet smile at the corner of her mouth.

“It seems that although this dream is bad.

“But it’s not all bad.”

She first sniffed the clothes as if she was savoring something, and then put them on with great satisfaction.

After feeling the warmth brought by the long-lost clothes and her body seemed to have improved, she picked up the knife placed aside.

He stood up staggeringly and walked out following the faint sound of a cat's meow.

After walking a few steps, she saw a cat standing in the courtyard, looking at her.

The cat's body is pitch black, like an ominous messenger of death.
-
The black cat stopped meowing after seeing the swordsman named Okita Souji.

He just moved slightly and found a sunny place in the courtyard and sat down quietly.

He stared at the swordsman lady with his somewhat weird eyes.

The swordsman lady was stunned at first, and then looked at the cat with some uncertainty.

"You are? Black Cat?"

"But why do you look familiar to me?"

The swordsman leaned down slightly and looked at the kitten not far away, which was looking at her with its head held high.

After thinking about it, she made a guess with some uncertainty.

"By the way, I feel like I've seen you somewhere.

"You have the face of a familiar person, no, the face of a familiar cat.

“Let me think about it.

"It must be the Mibu-dera Temple where I played with the children during my downtime during my mission in Kyoto."

After hearing what the swordsman lady said, the black cat raised its front paw and yawned.

Then it chirped in response, as if it was very happy that the swordsman recognized it.
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And after recalling the identity of this cat, he recalled the scene of playing with children in his dream.

The swordsman sighed heavily and recalled the past to the black cat in a nagging manner.

“Although I don’t know why you appear here, I am very happy to see you.

"But those kids will be lonely after losing their playmates one after another and finally losing you."

As the swordswoman spoke, her mood visibly darkened.

"After all, if there are three of us, including me and my two companions, we can play a lot of games with the children.

“After that companion died, there were only me and one companion left.

"I can only take turns being the 'ghost' to catch the children and playing hide-and-seek with them."

The swordsman lady spoke hesitantly as she spoke her next memories.

"After those two companions die, I will continue to make up excuses to deceive them.
".In the end, I curled up on my sickbed and died, and I couldn't play with them anymore."
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Having said this, the swordsman lady couldn't help but lower her head.

But when she saw the cherry-colored coat on her body, a hint of joy quietly appeared on her cheeks.

"However, I have now come to terms with these experiences.

“After all, it is through these experiences that I became a Heroic Spirit.

"Summoned as a Servant, I met my Master who is like a banner."

The swordsman lady pulled her coat tighter and sat down under the eaves.

Just like this black cat basking in the sunshine in the courtyard, I feel the warmth of the sun.

Then she stretched out her empty left hand and grabbed the sun in the air, and said to the black cat in a relaxed manner.

"Also, just like I have changed since meeting the Master.

"I guess the children there will also meet new people and have new playmates."

Recalling the man's sincere question from earlier, "Are you my Servant?"

After repeating her resolute response in her heart, the swordsman lady smiled with satisfaction.

The laughter echoed in the deserted courtyard, causing the black cat to glare at her in dissatisfaction.

The swordsman lady, who had just been talking a lot of nonsense, soon discovered something.

The black cat probably wasn't looking at him.

This cat's line of sight is slightly lower.

Still feeling a little weak, she lowered her head and followed the other person's gaze.

He quickly fixed his gaze on the knife in his right hand.
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Seeing that the swordsman lady focused her attention on the sword, the cat also made a satisfied sound.

He changed his previous lazy posture of basking in the sun and walked towards the swordsman lady with firm and powerful steps.

It seemed to urge her to draw her long sword and dance with it as she usually did during practice.

The swordsman lady also subconsciously swung the long sword in her hand.

I felt my frail body.

And the arms that exhaust all their strength just to make the simple movement of swinging a knife.

She could only say with some regret.

"Sorry, Kitty.

“Although I am no longer [sick], I am still in a dream.

“In my dream, I was already in a state where I couldn’t swing the sword anymore.

"I let you down."

The cat responded with a harsh roar that increased in pitch.

The swordsman lady looked at the cat and even sensed a hint of urging from it.

[Draw your sword! Kill me!]

Hearing the inexplicable words appearing in her mind, she drew her knife hesitantly.

After showing the sharp blade and pointing it at the black cat, she realized something in her heart.

[This black cat must have a special meaning to me in my dream.]

[It should be a reflection of my past mixed with [sickness], and also a shadow of my past! ]

[Cut it off! As long as I cut it off and say goodbye to the past, I should be able to continue to grow stronger!]

After realizing this, the swordsman's face unconsciously became a little ferocious.

She gripped the long sword in her hand tightly, almost with all her strength, and it seemed to be getting heavier and heavier.

He began to urge his arms to exert strength.

[Cut it off! I can cut it off!]

And looking at the long sword that was so close, reflecting his face.

The black cat did not try to dodge.

It just raised its head and stretched its neck, making a gesture of waiting to be killed.

In the sunlight, he looked at the swordsman with calm eyes, whose face had turned ferocious.
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After falling asleep, Fang Yi found himself on a mountain road and looked around with some confusion.

After spending several seconds and failing to gather any valuable information, he tried hard to recall the [Breaking Limits] mission he had seen before.
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[Breaking Limits: Absolute Sword II]

Mission requirements:

Kill the [Shadow of the Past].

Reincarnation reward: 6000 points, skill [Mastery of Swordsmanship] upgraded to [lv5].

Heroic Spirit Reward: The Heroic Spirit skill [Sickly] changes to [Absolute Sword].

Performance task reward: additional improvement in settlement evaluation.

[The increase in the settlement rating in the performance task reward will fluctuate depending on your performance.]
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After thinking about some strange requirements on the panel, Fang Yi scratched his head in distress.

Finally, he complained softly.

"What the heck is that [Shadow of the Past]?

“Is it something related to my swordsman or something related to me?
"After entering the dream, they left me in this place in the middle of nowhere."

After complaining, he raised his head and subconsciously activated [Transparent World·Strengthening].

After observing the temple vaguely on the top of the mountain, he drew his long sword and assumed a fighting stance.

Since the mission requires killing, it means that enemies will appear.

And based on the situation when Fang Yi defeated his senior brother [Li Yang] when he entered the dream before.

In the swordsman lady's dream, it is very likely that an extremely strong and abstract enemy will appear based on the other party's impression.

And he certainly wouldn't be so foolish as to give up the knife and lose his advantage.

However, when he climbed to the top of the mountain and arrived at the entrance of the temple.

Before he could push the door, the temple's previously closed door suddenly opened.

The man standing in the temple uttered these words to Fang Yi.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time, Fang Yi."

(End of this chapter)