The Sword of the Darkness Flame (邪王炎殺剣, Jaou Ensatsu Ken; translated as Wicked King Immolation Sword) is a very powerful technique used by Hiei in the Dark Tournament. In the English dub, it is a variation of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame technique. However, instead of Hiei using his arms, he infuses the flames around his sword. In the original Japanese version and manga, it is created by drawing in flames from Demon World.
History[]
The origin of the Sword of the Darkness Flame goes back to the Dark Tournament Saga, during Team Urameshi's match up against Team Uraotogi. Hiei was placed against Kuro Momotaro, who used Hiei's sword to grant himself immunity from bladed attacks. Afterwards, Hiei smashed his sword against Kuro's Armor of the Ape. Despite his best efforts, Hiei was no match for Kuro's Armor of the Phoenix and Armor of the Wolf, and was left at his mercy. Refusing to give up, Hiei draws his broken sword weapon despite Kuro's claim that it was hopeless. Without hesitation, Kuro lashed out at Hiei and sank his teeth into his flesh as blood gushed out onto the arena, but the blood was not Hiei's.
Flames immediately spewed from Kuro's back and Hiei sliced through his armored hide with the Sword of the Darkness Flame, reducing the demon to cinders.
The second time Hiei used this technique was during the final fight with Shinobu Sensui. After Yusuke Urameshi died at the hands of the rogue Spirit Detective, Kurama, Kazuma Kuwabara, and Hiei flew into a rage, and challenged Sensui in a head on attack. He uses the Sword of the Darkness twice in the battle, the second time with the sword being made entirely out of the flames. However, the technique proved to be completely ineffective against Sensui, who was able to take a direct hit from the attack and emerge unscathed.
Usage[]
Hiei channels the power of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame into his sword (Demonic Flames in the manga and Japanese version), coating it with deadly green and black flames that increase the sword's cutting power. Because this technique is similar to the Spirit Sword, Kuwabara accused Hiei of copying it, Hiei however denied having such inspiration.
Power and Effect[]
The damage of this technique is basically the same as the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, but on a smaller scale. Regardless, the sword is capable of slashing through incredibly strong defenses, such as Kuro Momotaro's Armor of the Wolf, and reducing Hiei's opponent to ashes. The attack however, is said to be less powerful than the actual Dragon.
Hiei is even able to utilize this attack after empowering himself by absorbing the dragon. It is not known whether this variation is boosted by Hiei empowering himself however, as the attack was only used once, against Sensui, and it had no effect on him.