Chapter 13 — Touch the Breath of the World
A soft ping echoed within his mind.
A system notification.
Skill Update: New Name Registered…
[Hikaru-Style (F+)]
A martial art technique blending various fundamental disciplines, designed to disrupt and harm living beings through mastery of a unique internal energy circulation method.
Hikaru blinked.
"…The name changed?"
Hikaru-Style…
A style?
Had it spread so widely, its very existence had been officially recognized as a school of its own?
"...Hikaru-kun? Is something wrong?"
A gentle voice pulled him from his thoughts.
He looked up to find Shinobu Kocho watching him with a quiet smile.
"Ah, no. It's nothing."
He returned her gaze, brushing aside the lingering thoughts.
"So… what's next?"
His eyes scanned the room.
They were no longer at the Butterfly Mansion's medical ward. Instead, they stood in a spacious, polished wooden dojo.
The ceiling arched high overhead. Each tap of geta on the dark floorboards echoed softly, filling the silence with a calming rhythm.
"Specialized training," Shinobu said smoothly, her voice composed as ever.
"There are normally several introductory steps… but given where you are now, I think we can skip straight to the core."
"With the technique you've developed and your level of bodily control... the only thing you're lacking is methodology."
She turned toward the far side of the room.
"And for that…"
Hikaru followed her gaze.
A group of familiar figures stood nearby.
"Do your best, Hikaru-nii!"
The girls from the Butterfly Mansion waved at him cheerfully.
"…Don't call me that."
He grimaced slightly, but not out of real annoyance.
After half a month living here, he'd grown used to them. They weren't quite "friends" yet, but a strange bond had definitely formed.
"Go get 'em!"
Aoi Kanzaki shouted with her arms folded across her waist, her iconic twin tails swaying as she tilted her head.
"If you get yourself hurt from this training—!"
She raised her fist, glaring with mock fury.
Hikaru could only offer a tired chuckle.
But among them, one presence stood out.
A silent girl with long black hair, tied in a side ponytail, its tips tinged red. Her expression was blank, like a porcelain doll.
"That's Kanao Tsuyuri," Shinobu explained softly.
"My adoptive daughter. In about two years, she'll take the Final Selection Exam."
"This special training… is part of the curriculum she'll eventually learn as well. So think of this as her early exposure."
"Adoptive daughter" in this case wasn't literal—it meant successor. The one being groomed to inherit the mantle of Hashira.
Final Selection… in two years.
Hikaru narrowed his eyes.
If his memory was right, Kanao was one of the candidates who participated in the Final Selection alongside the Protagonist.
"So… two years until the main story begins?"
"Or perhaps… it's already begun."
In the tale he knew, Tanjiro Kamado trained for two full years before his Selection.
And there'd already been quiet whispers… rumors of Kibutsuji Muzan's shadow appearing again.
"So that's how it is…"
The pieces clicked together in Hikaru's mind.
His gaze returned to Shinobu, who stood poised before him like a butterfly in waiting.
"Well then…"
"…Let's begin."
As those words left his lips—
She vanished.
A single step—and Shinobu disappeared from view.
Hikaru's eyes sharpened instantly.
She reappeared behind him.
"In this training session, you're allowed to use your Breathing Technique freely," she said from behind, still calm, still smiling. "So don't hold back."
"If you can touch me even once…"
"…You pass."
Hikaru's breath hitched.
He took a deep breath in—
And released.
Mist Breathing — Activate.
A gentle mist spread out from his body, swirling across the dojo floor like a silver tide. The air shimmered faintly, and his senses sharpened to their limit.
Without hesitation, he surged forward.
His breathing rhythm forced his lungs to compress and expand with precision, sending energy surging through every limb. The tremor sparked through his nervous system, triggering complete muscular activation.
More power. More speed.
His footsteps rang sharp against the wooden floor.
"Wah! He's fast!"
"My eyes can't keep up!"
"Uhh…"
The younger girls gasped in awe as Hikaru's figure blurred across the hall, chasing after Shinobu.
To them, it was like watching shadows flicker through fog—only vague outlines remained.
Aoi clasped her hands tightly.
More nervous than Hikaru himself.
And Kanao? She simply watched.
Calm. Unblinking. Focused.
Her eyes traced Shinobu's movements perfectly—floating, evading, gliding like a butterfly in mid-flight.
Shinobu's haori fluttered gracefully, not from raw speed alone—but from something deeper.
Breathing Technique—
It wasn't just in her nose or mouth.
It radiated from her entire being.
A dance.
A signal.
Hikaru cleared his mind of all distractions.
What remained was clarity.
Focused Serenity — Active.
[Focused Serenity (F+)]
The system notification rang out, but it barely registered.
Because he knew—
Shinobu wouldn't give him a test without meaning.
She wasn't one for empty trials.
Every motion, every step—was a lesson.
And Hikaru?
He began to see it.
The mist thickened around them, tracing the ebb and flow of Shinobu's movements.
Through the fog, he could sense the wind currents warping around her.
A human-shaped storm.
That… was Total Concentration Breathing.
But more than that—
Total Concentration: Constant.
A higher form of breathing.
A discipline that maintained high-output breathing continuously—not just in battle, but through every moment of everyday life.
Even in sleep.
If mastered, one's body could "breathe" through every pore. It allowed them to draw energy from the world around them, fortifying from within.
That… was what Shinobu embodied.
That was the truth he had seen.
The advanced stage of Breathing Technique mentioned in the stories.
Constant Total Concentration Breathing.
In this state, Shinobu moved with supernatural grace.
Each shift in posture guided the wind itself.
Each breath she took made the space around her dance.
If he wanted to touch her—
Then Hikaru would have to understand this state.
Not just mimic it.
Master it.
From the beginning, this was never a test.
This was the start of real training.
Shinobu Kocho was known as the Hashira most skilled at guiding others.
And she understood:
There were moments when words were no longer enough.
Sometimes…
The best way to teach—
Was to show.
She knew what kind of person Hikaru was.
And smart people—
They only believed in what they could see… and feel with their own hands.
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