Chapter 15 — Mirror Flower, Water Moon
[Void Breathing (F)]: Unveils the mist and reveals the truth. A personalized Breathing Technique that, through refined breathwork and body resonance, activates, enhances, and maximizes physical potential with full-body synchronization.
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The rank hadn't changed.
But Hikaru could feel it—undeniably.
This... this was his Breathing Technique.
Not a borrowed one. Not a memory of someone else's style lodged in his body.
Before, Mist Breathing had served him. But it wasn't truly his. It was like wearing a stranger's coat—warm, perhaps, but never a perfect fit.
The real issue wasn't physical.
It was perceptual—spiritual.
For a foreign soul like him, brought from another world, no matter how perfect his mimicry, the deeper resonance had never clicked.
Until now.
Now, that thin veil between himself and this world had finally dissolved.
The remnants of Mist Breathing faded from within him, like fog scattering before the morning sun.
And what remained—
Was something born purely from him.
Void Breathing.
It flowed naturally through him. Every breath felt like it belonged—completely.
Golden light washed over him as the sun continued its climb.
And in his hand, his Nichirin Blade began to shimmer.
Once veiled in soft mist-white, its hue was now… vanishing.
Under the morning rays, the blade gleamed like glass—as if it barely existed, a blade of pure illusion.
Nichirin Blades reflected their wielder's soul. Their breathing. Their element.
And Hikaru…
Was no longer mist.
He was Void.
Void—emptiness, yes, but also infinite potential. A space where anything could be born, shaped, reflected.
And then—
A soft sound brushed the air, like butterfly wings in flight.
Shinobu Kocho landed nearby, her movement so smooth it felt like a breeze had carried her.
Her violet-blue eyes shimmered with faint curiosity as she took in the boy standing tall in the sun's embrace.
"…Looks like something finally clicked, huh?"
She offered her usual quiet smile. But this time, her voice carried genuine intrigue.
Because the aura around Hikaru…
Had changed.
There was a strange weight to him now. Not oppressive. But real.
Before, even when he stood before her… there had been a sense of distance. As if he wasn't fully here. A presence blurred by fog.
But now—
That veil was gone.
And Shinobu could feel it like a quiet tremor in her chest.
"…Yeah," Hikaru replied simply, his voice calm and sure.
"I realized something. I still haven't mastered Total Concentration Breathing: Constant… but—"
He tightened his grip on the blade.
Raised it slightly.
The air itself shimmered, light and shadow bending as if reality warped around the edge of his sword.
Shinobu's eyes widened.
And in the blink of an eye—
He was gone.
A flicker—
Then his voice echoed softly behind her.
"This is my own technique," Hikaru said, standing at her back. "Not a mist borrowed from someone else… but a void that reflects everything."
She turned slowly, her expression unreadable.
"…Fascinating," she murmured.
Hikaru nodded once, his eyes fixed on his blade.
Now clear like polished glass—like a mirror left in sunlight.
"Breathing Techniques are born from rhythm… but they're shaped by perception."
And perception, in turn, manifested form.
That's why Water Breathing took the shape of flowing streams.
Thunder crackled into arcs.
Flames roared like a living blaze.
They were never literal elements.
They were extensions of intent.
Of belief.
Void Breathing was no different.
It distorted light.
Bent awareness.
Projected illusions into reality.
A personal technique that transformed "emptiness" into something tangible.
Into fantasy.
"…An illusion sword?" Shinobu whispered.
Now she understood.
With illusion—came revelation.
For Hikaru, this world was no longer hazy or distant. No longer a dream.
It was real now.
The mountains. The breeze. The sun rising over the Butterfly Mansion.
He could feel them.
Touch them.
And because of that…
He belonged.
He slid the blade back into its sheath, slow and smooth.
Then looked at Shinobu again.
She still wore that same quiet smile, her butterfly haori glowing softly in the sun.
But—
Now Hikaru could see it clearly.
That smile wasn't real.
Not entirely.
It was gentle… but hollow.
He didn't comment on it.
He had no right to judge what he hadn't lived through himself.
But he saw it.
For the first time, he truly saw her.
"This is the first time I've seen a Breathing Technique like that," Shinobu said, voice low.
Mist Breathing had descended from Water.
But this…
This was something else.
"Guess you could say… it's something I made myself."
Hikaru smiled faintly.
He'd forged Hikaru-Style from scraps.
And now he'd created his own Breathing Technique to match.
In a place where demons hunted and devoured the living—
There was no time to hide.
So why not embrace it?
"…So," Shinobu tilted her head slightly, "will you continue your training? You still haven't fully achieved Constant State, right?"
"No need," Hikaru replied, shaking his head.
He hadn't mastered it—
But now, he understood it.
"Total Concentration Breathing: Constant… It's a technique to maintain heightened breath, always. Even in sleep. No breaks. No gaps."
He looked down at the still surface of the pond beside them.
His reflection swam across it gently.
"But I…"
"I can surpass it."
His voice was quiet.
Confident.
"Void Breathing is illusion. It shifts awareness. It creates belief."
"And as long as the heart accepts the illusion…"
"It becomes reality."
He smiled.
"I'm not going to fight myself anymore."
A breeze danced through the garden.
Scattering leaves.
Pollen.
Sunlight.
For a moment, Shinobu flinched, covering her eyes from the sudden flurry.
And when she opened them again—
Hikaru was still standing there.
Same stance. Same expression.
But the energy around him—
The breath that flowed from him—
It was unmistakable.
Total Concentration Breathing: Constant.
"…I hypnotized myself," he said calmly, glancing back.
"I believed I had already achieved it. And the body followed."
The final piece of the puzzle…
Had fallen into place.
Void Breathing: Mirror Flower, Water Moon.
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