"What an incredible person."
Ryuji couldn't help but praise him once more, and he suddenly felt the urge to meet this master in person.
"What a pity. My own training method is something no one else could really reference. Otherwise, I could've taught my method to Tifa and then asked that master to evaluate it."
Ryuji felt somewhat regretful.
After all, he had designed his own training method entirely for himself, while master Zangan's method was something anyone with the desire to train could practice.
Neither path was inherently superior to the other.
It was simply that Ryuji's method suited himself better, and he had never intended to pass it on to others anyway. Without the same conditions and experiences he possessed, no one else could possibly train the same way he did.
"No, someone like this should be called a grandmaster instead. Founding a school and creating an entire system of his own…"
Ryuji flipped toward the latter half of the manual, toward the thin section covering combat techniques.
Like himself, this master clearly didn't place much importance on fighting techniques alone.
But the final move, 'Final Heaven,' still made Ryuji nod approvingly.
Because this move wasn't merely a technique; this move was the result of taking Zangan style to its limit.
Rather than a finishing move, it was more like a graduation thesis.
Anyone capable of unleashing this technique had essentially already reached the point where they should begin walking their own path.
To put it simply, when master Zangan passed down the martial arts he had practiced his entire life, he treated his own ultimate achievement merely as the starting point for future generations.
"A heart that endlessly pursues further heights…"
Ryuji couldn't help but praise him again before returning the manual to Tifa.
"I've already memorized the contents of this manual. Master Zangan truly deserves to be called a grandmaster. As long as you continue practicing the techniques written here, becoming one of the top martial artists is only a matter of time."
Ryuji's praise made Tifa very happy.
After all, she deeply respected Master Zangan herself.
However, she didn't think much of Ryuji claiming he had already memorized the manual, because in her opinion the principles within it were profound and expansive, far too deep for someone to completely understand after only reading through it once.
"But that doesn't mean I have nothing to teach you."
Ryuji looked at her and continued speaking calmly.
"I've already examined it carefully. If everything written in the Zangan-style martial arts manual is true, then you should also be capable of learning one of the techniques I know... or rather, a training method from another world."
As Ryuji spoke, he immediately began using the Life Return technique he possessed. His hair rapidly grew longer, then started writhing through the air under Tifa's astonished gaze.
"This technique is called Life Return. It's a training method that allows perfect control over every single part of your body. Normally, the training process involves repeatedly mastering six foundational techniques used to control the body… but if someone has already practiced the Zangan-style martial arts, then those preliminary steps become unnecessary."
Ryuji explained calmly.
Although Life Return was the only technique he truly possessed at the moment, after mastering it, developing techniques like Finger Pistol and the others would be incredibly easy for him.
So in Ryuji's view, the Six Powers of the Marines were essentially just a foundation built for the sake of reaching Life Return.
Because once someone possessed Life Return, then as long as they had enough nutrition, the damage caused by training and the consumption of stamina could both be replenished with ease.
Not only that, but most diseases and harsh environments would also become ineffective against them.
The simplest example was this:
If you mastered Life Return, then as long as you didn't recklessly destroy your own biological equilibrium, your body would never develop things like cancer. Even diseases such as AIDS would be unable to defeat you; in fact, your body would simply eliminate them outright.
Only certain truly abnormal diseases could force the body out of balance.
Of course, Ryuji also understood that Tifa learning Life Return would never turn her into a monster like the people from the One Piece world, casually flattening mountains with normal punches.
After all, she hadn't even reached the limit of her own Zangan-style martial arts yet, and her physical capabilities were visibly nowhere near as monstrous as the humans of the One Piece world.
But casually smashing apart a building with one punch, or twisting Cloud's head off barehanded?
Ryuji felt there wouldn't be much difficulty there.
Judging from the power scaling shown in Advent Children movie, once Tifa fully completed her training and achieved mastery over Life Return, she'd probably be capable of twisting Sephiroth's head off and kicking it around like a football.
There was only one problem.
With how poor Tifa was…
She probably couldn't afford the massive amount of food required for this kind of training.
Life Return was indeed an incredible training accelerator, but it also consumed food at an absurd rate. Only with Ryuji supporting her here could she really afford to train it properly, but if she returned to her own world without finding some way to massively increase her income, she probably wouldn't be able to sustain this kind of training at all.
"Come. Follow my movements. With your current level of mental strength, if you focus, you should be able to sense how I'm mobilizing my life force… Strictly speaking, this is a shortcut, but it won't leave any hidden dangers for you. Still, you have to follow my method exactly. Otherwise, you could injure yourself."
Ryuji had no intention of hiding anything.
He immediately began moving his body, demonstrating the easiest introductory movements for Life Return while completely releasing his life force so that Tifa could clearly sense every fluctuation within it.
After all, Life Return is also an extremely dangerous technique. If someone made even a slight mistake, it was entirely possible to accidentally manipulate themselves to death.
"Y-Yes…"
Tifa looked at Ryuji somewhat fearfully.
Because Ryuji wasn't concealing his life force at all, the ants beneath his feet began fleeing frantically, while the birds and beasts that had only recently returned to the forested mountain behind the Shiranui dojo once again scattered in terror.
Even the people within several hundred meters instinctively felt their hearts sink, as if something unimaginably dangerous was approaching.
But from Tifa's perspective, the changes in Ryuji's life force were incredibly clear and distinct.
And...
The moment Ryuji confirmed that Tifa had successfully sensed the circulation path of his life force, he thrust a palm against her lower abdomen.
In an instant, a sensation as scorching as magma surged into Tifa's body, activating her somewhat weakened blood and qi while stimulating her stomach, spleen, digestive system, and cardiovascular system.
Her entire body rapidly grew feverishly hot, and her stomach immediately began growling loudly.
"Ah…"
Tifa couldn't help but let out a soft cry.
Because the sensation was incredibly strange, very comfortable, yet also intensely stimulating at the same time…
And more importantly, she was becoming hungrier and hungrier. She had clearly just eaten not long ago, yet now she desperately wanted food again.
Even below, there was a strange itchy sensation.
Feeling the changes in her lower body, Tifa instinctively wanted to stop training, but after seeing the serious expression on Ryuji's face, she ultimately failed to gather the courage to say anything.
Meanwhile, Ryuji remained completely focused.
Even though Tifa looked extremely adorable at the moment, he didn't allow himself to become distracted. Instead, he reminded Tifa, who was a little distracted.
"Steady your mind. Follow the movement of my life force."
"Yes!"
Tifa quickly responded.
But as Ryuji's life energy continuously flowed into her body, guiding the circulation within her and leading her physical movements, she found herself increasingly…
Increasingly unable to stop looking at Ryuji.
This is the instinctive yearning of a weaker lifeform toward a stronger one.
~~~~~~~~~~
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