Anime: Fight Sukuna at the beginning?

After falling asleep, the swordswoman found herself watching scenes flashing before her eyes like rapidly changing film reels.

-

Kyoto, [Mibu Temple], many years ago.

"Souji, Souji."

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

The voices of many children flooded into the ears of Okita Souji, who had come to Kyoto's [Mibu Temple] as usual to play with the children.

This caused the swordswoman, who was somewhat uneasy after killing her target and being stained with a lot of blood, to freeze.

After exchanging a glance with her companion beside her, she hesitated for a moment.

The swordswoman, who loved children and was almost like a 'child king,' replied in a way that children could accept.

"Are you talking about that chubby swordsman?"

"He went to a very far place to do important things."

Then, she took snacks from her companion beside her, whose face was a little weathered and who was hesitant to speak.

She narrowed her eyes, smiled, and comforted the disappointed children.

"There are still snacks, one for each person."

"We won't play the previous games today. This big brother and I will play hide-and-seek with you."

"I'll be 'it,' everyone has to hide well!"

The children didn't suspect anything else, first crowding around the swordswoman and taking a snack each.

Then, as the swordswoman closed her eyes and counted down, they happily scattered, shouting.

-

The next moment, the scene in front of the swordswoman changed again.

It was still [Mibu Temple], and still those children crowding around her.

Only after seeing that only Okita Souji had come to the temple gate.

The children innocently asked the question in their hearts.

"Souji, why are you alone?"

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

Recalling her dead companion, the swordswoman lowered her body.

She forced a smile and replied to the children.

"He also went to a very far place to do a mission."

"He won't be back for a while."

"Today, I'll still be 'it'!"

The children let out a somewhat disappointed cry.

"Eh! Souji is too fast, we can't outrun you at all."

But the children still happily scattered in the end.

Still [Mibu Temple].

"Souji, what's wrong with you!"

The children standing in the temple looked at the swordswoman named Okita Souji, who suddenly clutched her chest while playing, and couldn't help but ask with some confusion.

The pain in her body flared up from time to time, and she had already been excluded from the combat ranks by the [Shinsengumi].

The swordswoman, who was somewhat worried about not being able to fight with her companions, opened her eyes.

She forced a smile at the children.

"It's nothing, just a bit of a cold."

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

"I can only let the little cat play with you."

Watching the swordswoman slowly stand up and stagger away.

The children waved their hands uneasily, offering simple blessings.

"Goodbye, Souji!"

"Be sure to come again after you get better!"

It's just that, later, no matter how many times the children came.

The children at that temple never saw this swordswoman again.

The reason is very simple.

The swordswoman named Okita Souji contracted an incurable disease.

This disease quickly took her life.

Forever fixing her life in late May of the fourth year of the Keiō era.

—

As the 'film' finished playing, Okita Souji, realizing that she was in a dream, also opened her eyes.

She had successfully 'awakened'.

The somewhat flustered swordswoman reached out as if a drowning person trying to grab a straw.

Subconsciously searching for the man's figure.

[Master! Where is Master?]

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

What came into view was a scene that she vaguely recognized—a moldy and leaky ceiling.

The swordswoman lying on the tatami mat only turned her head slightly, looking around at her surroundings.

And saw a rather familiar scene.

A nearly empty room.

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

Apart from the thin blanket covering her lying on the tatami mat.

And the clothes beside the pillow, there was nothing else.

Seeing this scene, the swordswoman was in a daze for a moment.

And after being stimulated by the somewhat cold air and faintly smelling the slightly bitter smell of medicinal soup in the air.

Those somewhat stubborn memories gradually emerged in her mind.

Making her have a basic understanding of the scene she was in.

[It's a little familiar, this seems to be the residence where I stayed for recuperation during my lifetime?]

[But shouldn't I be by Master's side after I wake up?]

The swordswoman raised her hand, preparing to push away the thin blanket covering her body and go out to further verify her guess.

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

It's just that as soon as she pushed away the thin blanket covering her body, before she could sit up and further go out of the room to look around at the surrounding environment.

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

Her body subconsciously shivered violently.

This shiver, like lighting the fuse of a bomb.

Triggered a burst of 'violent' coughing, as if she was about to vomit her internal organs.

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

Like a flag fluttering and undulating in the wind.

[Where is this]

-

After several minutes of 'taming' this body to stop it from coughing.

The swordswoman, who had already realized that her body had become weak again and returned to the [Weak] state.

Only sighed lightly, and then muttered in a somewhat frustrated tone.

"Really, clearly with Master's help, I no longer have [Weakness], and I'm in a state of full motivation."

"As a result, once I'm in a dream, I, Okita, turn into this appearance again!"

"What a terrible dream."

Although she didn't see that familiar street, she had already judged the situation.

She was currently in an incredibly real dream.

And this dream was reflecting the place where she had spent a period of her life.

It was also a room for her to recuperate and witness her death.

[Let's wake up quickly, get rid of this dream, and go find Master!]

However, just as the swordswoman made up her mind.

A somewhat vague cat meow came from her ear, as if a video had been pressed to play.

Seeming to lure her to go out and check.

—

"A cat?"

Hearing the cat meow coming from her ear, the swordswoman couldn't help but be a little puzzled.

It is said that what one thinks during the day, one dreams at night.

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

Previously worried about not being able to accompany the man to fight to the end.

Thinking that she, who died of illness without fighting side by side with her companions, was not qualified to stand under that [Flag of Sincerity].

It would be understandable if the dream she was in was this 'death scene'.

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

Faintly sensing that this cat was very important, the swordswoman made a decision.

[Let's go out and see.]

It's just that when she laboriously picked up the clothes at hand and prepared to put them on, the swordswoman couldn't help but be stunned.

Because at this moment, placed beside her pillow was not the light blue haori that should have appeared here.

But a gorgeous, cherry-colored coat that she was preparing to treasure.

[This is what Master gave me when we first met!]

The swordswoman's fingers touched this coat, and before she even put it on, she felt a sudden warmth on her body.

The lingering pain in her body seemed to lessen a bit.

Stroking this coat, after recalling the man's figure.

A sweet smile couldn't help but appear on the corner of the swordswoman's mouth.

"Looks like, although this dream is terrible."

"But not everything is terrible."

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

After feeling the long-lost warmth of the clothes and her body seeming to improve, she picked up the knife placed aside.

She stood up somewhat staggeringly and walked out, following the faint meowing sound in her ears.

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

The cat was jet black, like a harbinger of death and misfortune.

-

The black cat stopped meowing after seeing the swordsman named Okita Souji.

It only moved slightly, found a sunny spot in the courtyard, and sat down quietly.

Its somewhat eerie pupils stared intently at the swordswoman.

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

"You are? Black cat?

"But why do you look so familiar to me?"

The swordswoman leaned down slightly, examining the kitten that was looking up at her not far away.

After thinking for a while, she made a somewhat uncertain guess.

"Speaking of which, I always feel like I've seen you somewhere.

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

"Let me think."

"It should be at the Mibu Temple, where I played with the children during my free time when I was on a mission in Kyoto."

After hearing the swordswoman's words, the black cat raised its front paw and yawned.

Then, it meowed in agreement, seeming very happy that the swordswoman recognized it.

-

After recalling the identity of the cat, and recalling the scene of playing with the children in her dream.

The swordswoman sighed heavily, and reminisced about the past to the black cat in a rambling manner.

"Although I don't know why you are here, I am very happy to see you.

"But those children will be lonely after losing their playmates one after another, and finally losing you too, right?"

As she spoke, the swordswoman's emotions visibly dropped.

"After all, including me and those two companions, three people could play many games with the children.

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

"We could only take turns being 'it' to catch the children, playing hide-and-seek with them."

As she spoke, the swordswoman hesitated to say the following memories.

"After those two companions died, I had to keep making up reasons to deceive them.

"...In the end, I, who was curled up on my sickbed and died, couldn't play with them anymore."

-

Speaking of this, the swordswoman couldn't help but lower her head.

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

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

"After all, it is because of these experiences that I can become a Heroic Spirit.

"Summoned as a Servant, meeting my Master who is like a flag."

The swordswoman tightened the coat on her body and sat under the eaves.

Like the black cat basking in the sun in the courtyard, she felt the warmth of the sun.

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

"In addition, just like me who has changed after meeting Master.

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

Recalling the man's heartfelt question, "Are you my Servant?"

After repeating the resolute response she had given in her heart, the swordswoman smiled with great satisfaction.

The laughter echoed in the empty courtyard, causing the black cat to glare at her dissatisfiedly.

However, the swordswoman, who had said a lot of nonsense, quickly discovered something.

The black cat was probably not looking at her.

The cat's line of sight was slightly lower.

Her body was still a little weak, so she lowered her head and looked in the direction of the cat's gaze.

Soon, she locked her eyes on the knife she was holding in her right hand.

-

Seeing that the swordswoman had focused her attention on the knife, the cat also let out a satisfied cry.

Changing its lazy posture of basking in the sun, it walked towards the swordswoman with firm and powerful steps.

It seemed to be urging her to draw her long sword and wield it as she usually did during practice.

The swordswoman also subconsciously swung the long sword in her hand.

Sensing her weak and frail body.

And that even making a simple swinging motion would exhaust all her strength.

She had to say with some regret.

"Sorry, kitty.

"Although I am no longer 'frail', I am now in a dream.

"The me in the dream is already unable to wield a sword.

"I've disappointed you."

Responding to her was the cat's somewhat harsh hiss, which was raised a few notches.

The swordswoman looked at the cat, and even sensed a hint of urging from it.

【Draw your sword! Kill me!】

Hearing the words that appeared inexplicably in her heart, she hesitated to draw her sword.

After showing the blade to the black cat, she had already realized something in her heart.

【This black cat should have a special meaning to me in the dream.】

【It should be reflecting my 'past' mixed with 'frailty', and also the 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 become stronger!】

Realizing this, the swordswoman's face had already unconsciously become somewhat hideous.

She almost desperately clenched the long sword in her hand, which seemed to be getting heavier and heavier.

She began to urge her arm to exert force.

【Cut it off! I can cut it off!】

Looking at the long sword reflecting her face at close range.

The black cat did not make any evasive posture.

It just raised its head and stretched its neck, making a gesture of waiting for execution.

Under the sunlight, it watched the swordswoman with a calm gaze and a hideous face.

—

After entering the dream, Fang Yi, who found himself on a mountain road, looked around with some doubts.

After spending a few seconds and not collecting any valuable information, he tried hard to recall the [Limit Break] task he had seen earlier.

-

【Limit Break · Absolute Blade II】

Task Requirements:

Kill the 【Shadow of the Past】.

Reincarnator Reward: 6000 points, skill 【Proficient Swordsmanship】 increased to 【lv5】 level.

Heroic Spirit Reward: Heroic Spirit skill 【Frailty】 changes to 【Absolute Blade】.

Performance Task Reward: Settlement evaluation is additionally improved.

【The increase in settlement evaluation in the performance task reward will fluctuate depending on your performance.】

—

Recalling the somewhat strange requirements on the panel, Fang Yi scratched his head with some distress.

Finally, he muttered in a low voice.

"What is that 'Shadow of the Past' thing anyway?

"Is it something related to my swordsman or to me?

"After 'entering the dream', I was placed in this place where there is no village in front and no shop in the back."

After complaining, he raised his head and subconsciously activated [World Transparency · Enhancement].

After observing the temple faintly on the top of the mountain, he drew the long sword in his hand and made a fighting stance.

Since the task requirement is to kill, it means that an enemy will appear.

And according to Fang Yi's previous situation of defeating his senior brother [Li Yang] when he entered the dream.

In the swordswoman's dream, it is very likely that abnormally abstract enemies will appear based on the other party's impression.

And he would naturally not foolishly give up holding a knife, allowing himself to lose the advantage of making the first move.

However, when he climbed to the top of the mountain and came to the gate of the temple.

Before he could push the door, the originally closed gate of the temple suddenly opened.

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

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