"Please help me bury the bodies in the shrine. As for Tanjiro… come with me." Urokodaki took Tanjiro aside. He knew he could be extremely strict with Tanjiro, but not with Ivan. That would backfire.
Ivan didn't hesitate and turned toward the shrine.
After he had buried all the bodies, he waited a while longer until the sky started to brighten. Only then did Urokodaki return with Tanjiro.
There was a red mark on Tanjiro's face, but Ivan could see the determination in the boy's eyes. It looked like Urokodaki's teaching had successfully ignited his fighting spirit.
"Next is the test to see if you're qualified to learn the breathing technique. Tanjiro, carry your sister on your back and follow me."
Then the three of them ran along the ridges between the fields. Compared to Ivan, Tanjiro had a hard time keeping up with Urokodaki's speed. His heavy panting couldn't even be covered by the wind blowing across the ridges.
But he didn't give up and kept running behind them.
No one spoke along the way.
As time slowly passed, the blazing sun rose from the east and gradually sank toward the west. Ivan kept observing Urokodaki's breathing rhythm and noticed it had a certain pattern.
But when he tried to imitate it, he couldn't replicate it no matter what. It seemed the breathing rhythm was only part of the breathing technique.
Just learning the rhythm wouldn't be very useful.
"If you can't keep up, you should just go home." Urokodaki turned his head and said to Tanjiro.
"Huff… I can keep going… For Nezuko to have a better life in the future… I have to keep going."
Tanjiro was panting like a broken bellows. A normal person would have given up long ago.
Seeing that Tanjiro refused to quit, Urokodaki didn't say anything else and just kept running ahead.
Finally, before the sun set, Ivan saw the wooden house where Urokodaki lived at the foot of Mount Sagiri.
"With your strength, there's no need for a swordsmanship test. I think even the hand demon I imprisoned in the Wisteria Prison wouldn't be your match."
He had no idea the hand demon in the prison had secretly grown stronger.
Urokodaki glanced at Ivan, who was standing beside him with a calm expression and steady breathing. He felt a little headache coming on.
This guy had kept up with him using nothing but raw stamina before even learning the breathing technique.
What a "monster"!
But the Demon Slayer Corps desperately needed monsters like this. In his view, Ivan already had what it took to become a Hashira even before learning the breathing technique.
"Do you know the full principle of the breathing technique?" Urokodaki looked at Tanjiro, who was still stumbling along in the distance.
Seeing Ivan shake his head, he continued. "Total Concentration Breathing is a combat method the Demon Slayer Corps developed to fight demons. Its main function is to strengthen the heart and lungs so the blood can absorb a large amount of oxygen in a short time. After using it, a person's physical abilities can be dramatically increased in an instant.
It was a technique developed by a powerful swordsman. It is said that his breathing technique was akin to the warmth of the Sun. And it's the origin of all breathing techniques.
It was because of that Breathing technique that the five major styles of 'Water,' 'Thunder,' 'Flame,' 'Stone,' and 'Wind' were created. Later generations developed various new styles with different characteristics from those five. I won't go into detail about them here. You'll learn about them later."
Ivan knew he was talking about Yoriichi.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni was the second son of the Tsugikuni samurai family during the Sengoku period. This guy was born with the marks and naturally understood the principles of Transparent World and breathing techniques.
People like him, Ivan simply called them cheaters. Uh, he was one of them, too.
After Yoriichi Tsugikuni grew up, he not only created Sun Breathing himself but also shared it with his older brother Michikatsu Tsugikuni and the other members of the Demon Slayer Corps.
Since the others couldn't handle the power of the sun, Yoriichi guided them in developing the five basic styles derived from Sun Breathing.
Then, by chance, Yoriichi Tsugikuni encountered Muzan Kibutsuji while the latter was traveling with Tamayo.
Their first clash made Muzan realize just how terrifying a cheater could be.
To save his own life, Muzan had no choice but to split his body into one thousand eight hundred pieces. Only by relying on sheer numbers did he barely manage to survive.
After that, Muzan went full coward mode and engraved the word "survive" into his bones.
At the same time, his desire to become the perfect being grew even stronger. That was why he created the Twelve Kizuki to search for the Blue Spider Lily.
Only the Blue Spider Lily could overcome his fear of sunlight and turn him into the ultimate immortal monster!
Speaking of which...
His desire was eerily similar to Ivan's. Both of them wanted to become the ultimate immortal being.
"Next, I'm going to teach you Water Breathing. Compared to the other breathing techniques, Water Breathing is the gentlest and easiest to learn. But it requires the practitioner to have a clear mind, calm as still water. Once mastered, it allows for agile slashes wrapped in sword energy like flowing water."
As he spoke, Urokodaki demonstrated it once.
"Interesting."
After Urokodaki finished the full demonstration, Ivan adjusted his lung breathing rhythm and made his blood carry more oxygen.
Watching Ivan's breathing become more and more correct, Urokodaki under his mask could no longer stay calm.
This learning speed was unheard of. Calling him a prodigy wouldn't be enough.
Ivan didn't need a calm mind to help him. His control over his body had already reached a freakish level. He extended his right hand, turning it into a blade, and slashed forward. A slash of sword energy like rippling water shot out.
"Right now the oxygen level in my blood shouldn't be my limit."
After thinking that, Ivan sped up his heart engine. His body temperature rose steadily and easily broke past thirty-nine degrees.
That temperature would cause massive damage to a normal person, but Ivan felt nothing unusual. He could push it even higher!
At the same time, under the high-frequency beating of his heart, his pulse rate kept climbing.
Due to the change in breathing rhythm, the flow of my blood seems to have changed too. But my cells can still handle it.
Even the parts that can't adapt heal quickly with the help of regeneration, so it won't damage my body.
However, Ivan didn't know that while he was focused on the changes inside his body...
Urokodaki was looking at him like he had seen a ghost!
On Ivan's bare upper body, several marks like ocean waves had appeared. They covered both sides of his waist and were still spreading, crawling slowly up his arms and neck like they had a life of their own.
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69