Kaiyue was the one who provoked him first—Urokodaki Sakonji saw it with his own eyes.
Beating him up wasn't a big deal, but killing him would be a serious problem.
At this point, Kaiyue hadn't committed any of those heinous acts yet. He hadn't even graduated from Urokodaki Sakonji's tutelage or passed the Final Selection on Mount Fujikasane. To everyone, he was just a somewhat ill-tempered but talented and hardworking swordsman-in-training.
If he were to kill this person here, not only would he fail to learn Thunder Breathing, but he'd also offend Urokodaki Sakonji—a highly influential figure in the Demon Slayer Corps and a master who had trained many Thunder Breathing users.
"You lost."
Hardy shook his head regretfully.
Kaiyue stood dumbfounded before Hardy, his sword dropping to the ground.
He felt the fear of death.
In the past, Urokodaki Sakonji had held a sword to his neck as well, but the fear he felt then was nothing compared to now.
The man before him had killed before—killed many people!
That murderous aura was absolutely real!
Hardy's true self in the Naruto world and his avatar in the DC world—both were people whose hands were stained with blood. The number of people who had died by his hand was easily in the triple digits.
His powerful survival instinct kicked in, and he turned pleading eyes to Urokodaki Sakonji.
"Master Sakonji, save me!"
"Sigh… Hardy-kun, Kaiyue is just a reckless and impulsive young man, you see…"
"Oh, it's nothing. We were just sparring,"
Hardy sheathed his sword and smiled at Urokodaki Sakonji.
Wasn't this kid supposed to be from a noble family? Why does he have such a murderous aura?
This killing intent reminded Urokodaki Sakonji of the current Wind Pillar.
He was a bit puzzled, but quickly put the thought aside.
Maybe Hardy had a story in his past, but there were plenty of people with stories in the Demon Slayer Corps. As long as he could turn that killing intent against demons, it would be a good thing.
Urokodaki Sakonji sent Kaiyue away, telling him to take Zenitsu Agatsuma to find a place to stay. Soon, only he and Hardy were left.
"I've always known that with Kaiyue's temperament, he'd suffer a big loss sooner or later. This time, it's actually a good thing—let him learn a hard lesson. Maybe he'll change his ways. Better now than stumbling later on."
Urokodaki Sakonji leaned on his cane and looked at Hardy.
"A leopard can't change its spots. Unless someone goes through a truly life-changing event, it's very hard to change their nature."
Hardy watched as Kaiyue unceremoniously dragged Zenitsu away.
…said to his departing back.
After this incident, until Kaigaku truly believed he was stronger than him, he absolutely wouldn't dare stir up any more trouble.
That was already enough. After all, all Hardy wanted was to learn Thunder Breathing. Once he finished learning, he'd have plenty of time to deal with Kaigaku.
"Sigh, it's good enough if he can change even a little."
Jigoro Kuwajima shook his head and turned his gaze to Hardy.
"But I have to admit, like Kaigaku, I'm a bit curious. In my opinion, Hardy, you have a high compatibility with Wind Breathing and your strength is impressive. In the Demon Slayer Corps, aside from the Hashira, there probably aren't many who could match you. So why are you interested in Thunder Breathing?"
"Wind Breathing is too simple. I learned everything Master Morioka could teach me in just a month. But there's still some time before the next Final Selection at Fujikasane Mountain. Since I have nothing else to do, I thought I'd try learning another Breathing Style—maybe it'll suit me even better."
Jigoro Kuwajima: …
Is that something a human would say?
"Well, then I'd like to see how long it takes you to master Thunder Breathing. Among the five basic Breathing Styles, it's the most difficult to learn. Even Kaigaku, after my long-term guidance, has only mastered three forms so far."
"Shall we start now?"
"So soon? Well, that's fine—after all, the essence of Thunder Breathing is speed!"
Jigoro Kuwajima chuckled, lifted his cane and, treating it like a katana, began to demonstrate.
"I'm missing a leg, so my demonstration won't be perfect. Make sure you pay close attention!"
Watching this, Hardy called out in his heart:
"Main body! Help me!"
Naruto World.
On the plains outside the camp, Hardy, who was researching Lightning Release nature transformation, stopped channeling chakra and drew his ninja blade.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"
Jigoro Kuwajima's figure instantly turned into a golden bolt of lightning, dashing forward.
"Remember, the key to Thunder Breathing is to explosively engage multiple muscle groups in an instant…"
With each move he demonstrated, Jigoro would pause to give a detailed explanation, and Hardy would relay any questions to his main body in real time.
Demonstrating and explaining all six forms of Thunder Breathing took over an hour.
Afterward, Jigoro Kuwajima pulled out a small booklet from his pocket, just like the one Master Morioka had used to teach Wind Breathing.
"Just skim through this manual. I wrote it more than ten years ago, so there are areas that could be improved. Like I just explained, if you truly grasp what I've taught you, you may not necessarily become a Hashira, but mastering Constant Breathing will make you more than qualified to be a top-ranked swordsman."
Jigoro stroked his white beard proudly as he spoke.
"Thank you very much, Master Kuwajima."
"Mm, take your time to practice. I'll go check on Kaigaku and Zenitsu. Hopefully those two can get along."
Jigoro nodded to Hardy and turned to leave.
As it turned out, his affinity with lightning energy was quite good.
However, it still lagged somewhat behind his mastery of air flow manipulation.
When he learned Wind Breathing, after just grasping the basics and watching it once, his DC World avatar could already use it proficiently. The reason it took three days was simply because Master Morioka was physically limited and taught slowly.
Perhaps, as Jigoro Kuwajima said, Thunder Breathing is indeed one of the two most difficult among the five basic Breathing Styles. In any case, it took Hardy much longer to master all six forms of Thunder Breathing than it did for Wind Breathing.
A whole week.
"A week!"
Jigoro Kuwajima slapped his forehead and grabbed his hair.
"Am I dreaming, or have I just gone senile?"
The old man looked utterly shaken.
Kaigaku's jaw dropped even further.
Why on earth did I lose my mind last week and offend someone like this?
Still, Kaigaku firmly believed that as long as he survived, he'd eventually have the chance to surpass Hardy.
Only Zenitsu, who had no idea what this all meant, put down his wooden sword and sat off to the side, slacking off.
"Yeah, it was a bit tricky. It actually took me a whole seven days to learn."
Hardy replied with a perfectly serious expression.
Once again, finishing just in time…