章 104: The second Sun Breathing user
[Seiji's POV]
I watched with bathed breath, I didn't even blink my eyes once. There was a sense of anticipation in the air and I couldn't stop my heart from beating wildly.
"....."
"Umm...I kinda need a stick," Tanjiro relaxed his body and said with an awkward smile.
Without wasting any moment, I disappeared from my place and went in front of a random tree. With the blurring stroke of my sword, I cut a branch off the tree and turned it into a stick.
Then I threw the stick at Tanjiro who barely caught it.
He collected himself with a couple of coughs. I tilted my head to the side, wondering if what I saw was real.
The boy was having stage fright when I was literally the only one watching.
'In his defence, my eyes are more intense than a thousand gazes I guess.' I defended the young boy in my mind.
But soon after that, Tanjiro started performing the Hinokami Kagura. It started off slow and choppy at first but as the dance went on, I finally caught on to the unique aspect of the dance.
It was similar to the time I had enlightenment when I fought against Doma. Only this time, I was safe and had enough time to ponder upon my discovery.
Sun Breathing was perfection and turth.
Even if the art were lost in time, there would come a day, maybe in a thousand years or a million years. Someone would eventually reach the pinnacle of breathing techniques and he would reinvent the Sun Breathing, with absolutely zero change.
The pattern of inhalation, the abrupt stop and holding of breath and the intensity of swallowing air. Breathing - an action that seemed so simple and could be done by anyone unconsciously - no one would believe how such a simple action could hold such complexity.
I saw blood rushing to vital organs and muscles, carrying abundant oxygen that made the body move at its fullest potential. All parts of the body that could fight, fought at that moment.
Tanjiro did not realise it since he was so focused but the temperature of his body rose and the longer he danced - instead of slowing down - he was getting faster and stronger.
That was Sun Breathing.
But the forms - in particular - the actions that utilized such an incredible state of the human body, it was not perfect.
As my eyes pierced through the techniques hidden behind the illusion of a dance, I saw not a perfect technique but imperfection.
That meant Sun Breathing itself was perfection but the forms were not.
In those forms, I could vividly see Yoriichi in his prime. I could determine how he would've fought, which side he would have preferred, which leg was stronger, which arm was his favourite etc.
Like a scholar who deciphered ancient inscriptions and gazed upon history, I could see it. It was not perfection, but it was beautiful.
Action had never been so beautiful.
It made sense, Yoriichi not only created Sun Breathing but he was also a genius swordsman who trained since his childhood. It was rumoured that he became the strongest swordsman the moment he picked up a sword as a young boy.
So even five centuries later, I can admire the skill he possessed through the imperfect reflection known as Hinokami Kagura.
I did not completely rely on Tanjiro's dance obviously, as that would be ineffective. Instead, I removed all the flaws in Tanjiro's dance and Hinokami Kagura itself, to get a true glimpse at the forms of Sun Breathing.
It was like reading very bad handwriting and rewriting it with a better one. It was not that difficult as the meaning behind the action remained the same.
In no time, Tanjiro finished his dance but I didn't allow him to stop.
"Do it again," I told him and he did.
I watched the dance again and again, picking out the forms hidden in that dance and absorbing the meaning of the action. My knowledge became increasingly deeper.
There were six directions that encompassed our third-dimensional reality. They were up, down, left, right, forward and backwards. The forms of Sun Breathing utilize these fundamental directions to their greatest limit.
Yoriichi was a master of these directions, having seemingly complete domain over them like a God. Some forms attacked from opposite directions simultaneously, some attacked only one with unbearable intensity, and some even attacked from all directions at once.
I could imagine, how he would look like someone with six arms to his opponents. I guess that was the reason behind Kokushibo having six eyes and why the Yoriichi robot needed to have six arms to imitate Yoriichi's fighting style.
How could someone attack from two opposite directions at once? Right and left, up and down, forward and backwards?
Well, the answer was in front of me, almost begging me like to take it, copy it, learn it and finally own it.
It might not be perfection but the forms of Sun Breathing were by far the greatest techniques of any breathing style. Well, maybe only Water Breathing could rival it with its 13th form.
I also realised why the first Hashiras were unable to learn the forms of Sun Breathing. But I would explore that at another time.
For now, I simply watched on repeat as Tanjrio danced again and again and again. I think he even got better with each dance he did.
That went on until dawn was upon us. By then, I realized I might have gotten a little overboard so I went to Tanjiro and stopped him.
"Okay, that's enough," I said and he finally paused his movement.
He was bathed in salty sweat and his facial expression hung in exhaustion. But he had a small smile on his face, as if dancing for so long was also joy for him.
"Thank you, " I said with a curt bow.
"It's fine." Tanjiro smiled and finally, he collapsed. The moment he stopped the dance, exhaustion which had been held off by the shadows of Sun Breathing came crashing down, swallowing his consciousness.
I marvelled at the determination and earnest nature of the boy before I went inside the house and laid him on his futon. He was covered in sweat but I was not about to strip him and give him a bath like a baby.
Then I went outside once more and sat in the same exact place on the balcony where I sat before Tanjiro came to me. There, I watched the sun, rise and disperse the darkness of the night.
The stars disappeared in the brightening sky, the limelight was now completely stolen by the sun once more.
"I guess I won't even get to use my futon," I said to myself and watched as the sun rose in a world that had a perfect Sun Breathing user.
..
...
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[3rd POV]
On the other side of the horizon, blood-red eyes pierced through the darkness and gazed at the rising sun, just like Seiji did.
Muzan Kibutsuji, upon seeing the sun concluded that his time to roam the earth was over. Now it was time to hide once more, in the shadows, like the imperfect creature he still was.
He had begun roaming around at night once more, instead of just sending his servants to do everything for him.
Because recently, there was a sense of urgency in his heart. He did not have a logical explanation as to why, but he felt vulnerable.
It all started when Doma was first killed.
Muzan could share memories with his demons and he witnessed from Doma's perspective, the fight that ultimately led to his death.
Seiji Shigan.
It was amusing, at first, he'll admit. The humans or the Demon Slayer Corps never posed much threat to him, that was why they were allowed to exist for so long. They were not threatening enough for Muzsan to make the effort of wiping them out. They were nothing without 'that' man.
So the appearance of a new talented Demon Slayer was, quite intriguing.
Seiji was only able to kill Doma because of luck, he was still not even at that level yet. So there was no need to take it to the extreme. It doesn't mean that Muzan took the insolence lying down though as he commanded the Upper Moons to start making big moves.
But that all changed when the same man killed Upper Moon 6, in less than a month since killing Doma. He favoured Gytaro as well so the fact annoyed him to no end.
That was until he looked through the memories of Gytaro.
Seiji Shigan.
The boy had improved at an impossible rate. He had grown significantly stronger in just a month. And after careful observation, Muzan realised why.
Sun Breathing. Well, it was not exactly the Sun Breathing Yoriichi used but the breathing pattern was similar. Muzan could never forget it.
Then there was his newfound ability to use Demon Slayer Mark and most importantly, the boy met with one of Muzan's greatest enemies.
Tamayo.
..
He was not petty enough to deny it. The threat was growing bigger.
A man who had a genius talent, an incomplete Sun Breathing, a Demon Slayer Mark, and finally, had contact with Tamayo. That was an entity he could not look over.
He was petty enough to deny that he was a little afraid. He was not.
But there was something that urged him to take action, to hurry before the board was completely flipped.
Find Seiji Shigan, find the blue spider lily, find the family that had relations with Yoriichi, and find the Demon Slayer headquarters.
He was wandering around in the darkness of the night to find at least one of those.
..
*BOOOOOOM!!!*
Muzan's hand changed its shape and blurred so quickly that it looked like a phantom. And in that single movement, the forest at his side was completely obliterated.
Muzan released a sigh and grabbed his face, he was extremely pissed off this morning. He felt that the sun was brighter than usual.
"How infuriating," Muzan said, and then a door appeared under him and he sank into the infinite castle.
..
..
[IMAGE]
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Author : Exam is finally over so there will be consistent update again.
Even extra chapters for stones maybe.
Thanks for reading
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