Time flew by, and a month passed quietly.
The early morning of Momoyama was filled with the scent of grass and soil.
Uzui Tengen was shirtless, his knotted muscles taut as iron in the sunlight. Every swing of his sword carried a wail tearing through the air.
"Hah!"
With a violent shout, the wooden sword in his hand slammed down on a half-person-high rock beside him.
Boom!
Stone chips flew everywhere!
Spiderweb-like cracks instantly covered the rock's surface. In the next moment, the entire boulder actually exploded under his brute force.
Dust filled the air. Uzui Tengen exhaled a long breath and looked at Ryosuke, his brows furrowed tight.
"This so-called Breathing Style still isn't flowing flamboyantly or smoothly enough! Feels like it's stuck dead by something!"
Uzui Tengen's tone carried a bit of irritability.
Ryosuke's eye twitched, moving his gaze away from the miserable pile of rubble.
Only after spending time together day and night did he realize his understanding of Uzui Tengen from watching the anime was still too shallow!
This guy was a fierce beast in human clothing!
Speed and strength were both impeccably perfect, far exceeding the limits of ordinary people!
Even with the basic training at Momoyama, his daily intensity was much higher than Ryosuke and Shota's!
But Uzui Tengen was stuck at the most core Breathing Style, unable to advance an inch.
Thunder Breathing emphasized lightning-fast explosive power.
Simply put, it was compressing all the body's strength into one point and releasing it instantly.
First Form · Thunderclap and Flash was the foundation of foundations.
It could coordinate with other sword techniques, creating the attack chains of Thunder Breathing sword skills.
As for Uzui Tengen...
He walked a different path.
Crushing everything with absolute strength and physique, somewhat similar to Himejima Gyomei.
Simple, direct, domineering!
No technique, just pure strength! A pure stats monster, especially wrist strength!
One hand could overthrow four hands of Ryosuke and Shota combined!
Just like that strike just now, he purely relied on brute force to smash the rock to pieces.
"The essence of Thunder Breathing is instantaneous explosive power at high speed."
Ryosuke spoke slowly: "Your path... could be considered... hmm, finding a new way?"
He really couldn't find a more apt term.
The swift agility of Thunder Breathing on Uzui Tengen was simply like putting a tutu on a mammoth!
Abstract!
Too fxxking abstract!
"Potential will be limited."
Kuwajima Jigoro, supervising the training from the side, leaned on his cane and concluded.
His gaze swept over Uzui Tengen, saying indifferently.
"Your bones, strength, and reflexes are all top-notch choices. You were born to walk a path of fierce and domineering power."
"Forcing yourself into the framework of Thunder Breathing is like stuffing a bull into a doghouse; it will only hurt both sides. Perhaps... you should change direction and try to evolve Thunder Breathing outward, walking your own path."
Uzui Tengen was silent for a moment, tightening his grip on the wooden sword.
He was not an inflexible person.
His experience defecting from the clan made him deeply understand the importance of choice.
"Even if I want to flamboyantly create a branch, I must first deeply understand the foundation of the mainstream."
Uzui Tengen said in a deep voice: "Otherwise, it's just a castle in the air, flashy but without substance."
He picked up dual swords, his eyes becoming firm again.
"Continue training! This flamboyant lord refuses to believe it!"
Ryosuke shrugged and didn't persuade him further.
Professional matters should be left to professional people.
Jigoro was a very capable Cultivator with sharp eyes. The subsequent guidance and path planning were his concern.
Days flowed by amidst sweat and the sound of swinging swords.
Ryosuke went on a few more missions and naturally promoted to Tsuchinoto (Rank 6).
In any case, getting promoted was always good.
This meant he could access higher-level missions and have a greater chance of encountering high-tier "lifespan packs."
During training intervals, Ryosuke wasn't idle either.
He proactively approached Uzui Tengen and his three wives, humbly asking for tips on throwing ninja tools and tricks for stealth and concealment.
The ninja's killing skills, honed through thousands of trials, were of great use in the life-and-death arena of demon hunting.
One more method meant one more life.
Uzui Tengen was generous about this, even having the Ninja Mice bring over several sets of small, exquisite wrist crossbows and poison-coated kunai for Ryosuke to study.
Hinatsuru gently explained the ratios of different poisons and explosives, as well as their onset times.
Makio crossed her arms, occasionally commenting on Ryosuke's clumsy techniques with a sharp tongue.
Suma nervously reminded him not to accidentally hurt himself.
Of course, Rika was present at these times, eagerly supervising from the side.
Later, when Ryosuke went on missions, he also tested the poison on demons.
However, this poison was effective on humans but very poor on demons, decomposing within a few minutes.
Ryosuke was helpless.
Since the Butterfly Mansion hadn't been established yet, developing poisons to kill demons would still rely on Shinobu Kocho and Kanae.
Helplessly, this matter was temporarily shelved.
Soon, Uzui Tengen's strength improvement hit a bottleneck.
His foundation was too solid; his basic physical fitness and combat skills had long been tempered to the human limit.
On Momoyama, currently only Ryosuke and Shota could fight him heartily.
But after sparring many times, they knew each other's move habits by heart.
Ryosuke's Threefold was incredibly fast, but Uzui Tengen could always avoid vitals with his beast-like intuition and reflexes.
Shota's Thunder Breathing sword skills appeared greener, lacking a bit in power and speed, posing no real life-and-death pressure on Uzui Tengen.
Simulations on the training ground ultimately lacked that fatal sense of crisis of licking blood from the blade tip.
"No! Continuing like this is too un-flamboyant! The threshold of Breathing Styles will never be crossed!"
After a sparring session, Uzui Tengen wiped his sweat, looking at Ryosuke and Shota opposite him who were also slightly panting.
"Next time you go on a mission, this lord is tagging along! Real slaughter is the best whetstone! Flamboyant improvement lies on the battlefield!"
"Sure, we can look out for each other then."
Ryosuke nodded, looking at the fighting spirit ignited in Uzui Tengen's eyes.
Jigoro had no objection to this idea and equipped Uzui Tengen with two Nichirin Swords.
He wanted to improve too much!
Couldn't stop him even if they tried.
Furthermore, Uzui Tengen had high talent and a good foundation.
Even if he had only simply learned Breathing Styles, with Nichirin Swords, ordinary mid-to-low-tier demons were completely beneath his notice.
Jigoro didn't need to worry.
Similarly, letting Uzui Tengen grow faster and learn "Musical Score" allowed Ryosuke to steal a move too.
Although this move had a long wind-up, it had miraculous effects when fighting strong enemies.
Once completed, it would be an instant kill!
However, the Musical Score skill benefited from Uzui Tengen's super hearing and reaction ability, and even required a certain sense of pitch.
For Ryosuke, who was a shut-in in his previous life, forget pitch sense; singing without going out of tune was hard enough for him.
This was a hard injury; had to train.
Ryosuke thought for a moment, then thought of something else.
"However..."
He paused, adding a request that seemed extremely odd to others: "The demons' heads must be left for me to chop."
Uzui Tengen sized Ryosuke up and down, as if knowing this guy who always slacked off yet hid sharpness for the first time.
"Your request is flamboyantly peculiar."
He rubbed his chin, his silver ponytail swaying with the movement: "Sure! This lord has no interest in demon heads. As long as my blades drink enough of the strong enemy's blood, letting you do the cleanup work of chopping heads is fine!"
He laughed heartily and agreed readily, not delving into the reasons behind this odd request.
In his eyes, Ryosuke's move might just be some maverick habit.
Or perhaps an obsession with the fatal blow.
Didn't matter, as long as he could fight and break through.
Focus on being a battle maniac! Combat is satisfying!
Soon, a few days later, the Kasugai Crow brought new orders.
"Caw! Yasui Ryosuke! Tsuchinoto Rank order!"
"Thirteen youths missing in Ine town, Hokuriku region. Large amounts of pottery clay left at the scene!"