Time flew by, and a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Morning at Momoyama was thick with the scent of leaves, grass, and damp earth.
Uzui Tengen stood bare-chested beneath the sun, corded muscles coiled tight like forged steel. Each swing of his blade tore through the air with a low, howling whistle.
With a thunderous shout, he brought the wooden sword down on a boulder nearly half his height.
Cracks spread across the stone like a spiderweb—
and in the next instant, the entire rock exploded under sheer brute force.
Dust billowed.
Uzui Tengen exhaled sharply, then turned toward Ryosuke with a deep frown.
"This so-called Breathing Technique still isn't flowing smoothly enough! It's not flamboyant at all!"
"It feels like something's jamming me completely!"
There was a clear edge of irritation in his voice.
Ryosuke's eye twitched as he looked away from the miserable pile of shattered stone.
Only after spending real time together did he realize how shallow his understanding of Uzui Tengen had been back when he'd only watched the anime.
This guy wasn't human.
He was a ferocious beast wearing human skin.
Speed.
Power.
Reaction.
All of it flawless—far beyond normal human limits.
Even Momoyama's basic training regimen, Uzui handled at an intensity no lower than Ryosuke's or Shota's.
And yet—
He was completely stuck at the core of it all: Breathing Techniques.
Thunder Breathing emphasized explosive power in the blink of an eye.
Put simply—compressing the strength of the entire body into a single instant, then releasing it.
First Form: Thunderclap and Flash was the foundation of everything.
It linked seamlessly with other techniques, forming the chained assault that defined Thunder Breathing swordsmanship.
But Uzui Tengen…
He was walking an entirely different path.
Crushing everything with absolute strength and physique—
not unlike Himejima Gyomei.
Simple.
Direct.
Overwhelming.
No finesse. No tricks.
Just raw power.
A pure stat monster—especially when it came to wrist strength.
One of his hands could overpower both Ryosuke's and Shota's four hands combined.
That strike just now?
He hadn't cut the rock.
He'd smashed it apart with brute force alone.
"The essence of Thunder Breathing is instantaneous burst under extreme speed," Ryosuke said lazily.
"Your style… well… I guess you could call it… a creative detour?"
He really couldn't find a better word.
Thunder Breathing's agility and sharpness on Uzui Tengen felt like—
Putting a ballet tutu on a mammoth.
Abstract as hell.
"Your potential will be capped."
From the side, Kuwajima Jigoro came to a conclusion, leaning on his cane.
His gaze swept over Uzui Tengen, voice calm and steady.
"Your bones, strength, and reflexes are all top-tier. You were born for a fierce, domineering path."
"Forcing yourself into Thunder Breathing's framework is like stuffing a charging bull into a doghouse."
"Both sides suffer."
"Perhaps… you should change direction. Evolve Thunder Breathing into something of your own."
Uzui Tengen fell silent, gripping the wooden sword tightly.
He wasn't someone who couldn't adapt.
Defecting from his clan had taught him the weight of choice.
"Even if I'm to flamboyantly create a branch of my own," he said in a low voice,
"I must first fully understand the roots of the main path."
"Otherwise, it's just a castle in the air—flashy, but hollow."
He picked up his paired blades, his gaze sharpening once more.
"Keep training!"
"The flamboyant me refuses to believe I can't break through!"
Ryosuke shrugged and didn't try to persuade him further.
Professional matters were best left to professionals.
Jigoro was an exceptional mentor with a viciously sharp eye.
Guidance and long-term direction were his domain.
Days flowed past in sweat and the sound of steel.
Ryosuke went on several more missions and, without incident, was promoted to Kanoe.
A promotion was a good thing, no matter how you looked at it.
Higher rank meant access to tougher missions—and a better chance of running into high-tier lifespan packs.
During training breaks, Ryosuke didn't sit idle either.
He took the initiative to approach Uzui Tengen and his three wives, humbly asking for instruction in throwing techniques and stealth.
The assassin skills refined by shinobi over generations were immensely valuable on demon-hunting battlefields.
One more tool meant one more chance to live.
Uzui Tengen was generous, even having ninja mice bring over several compact wrist-mounted crossbows and poison-coated kunai for Ryosuke to study.
Hinatsuru patiently explained different poison and explosive formulas, as well as onset timing.
Makio crossed her arms, occasionally delivering sharp-tongued commentary on Ryosuke's clumsy handling.
Suma hovered nervously nearby, repeatedly reminding him not to blow himself up.
Of course, Rika was always present—
staring unblinkingly from the sidelines like a tiny supervisor.
Later, Ryosuke tested the tools on demons during missions.
Unfortunately, poisons effective against humans degraded rapidly inside demons, breaking down within minutes.
The Butterfly Mansion hadn't been established yet.
If they wanted true demon-killing poisons, they'd have to wait for Shinobu and Kanae.
Reluctantly, the project was shelved.
Before long, Uzui Tengen's growth hit a bottleneck.
His foundation was simply too solid—his physical ability and combat instincts already honed to the limits of humanity.
On Momoyama, the only ones who could truly exchange blows with him were Ryosuke and Shota.
But after enough sparring, everyone's habits became second nature.
Ryosuke's Triple Flash was terrifyingly fast, yet Uzui's beast-like intuition and reactions always let him avoid vital points.
Shota's Thunder Breathing was still immature—slower and weaker, incapable of putting real pressure on Uzui Tengen.
Training simulations lacked one thing—
That lethal edge of life-and-death combat.
"No! This won't do!" Uzui Tengen wiped sweat from his face after a spar, staring at the equally winded Ryosuke and Shota.
"At this rate, I'll never cross the threshold of Breathing Techniques! It's not flamboyant enough!"
"Next time you go on a mission, I'm coming with you!"
"Real slaughter is the best whetstone! True flamboyant growth happens on the battlefield!"
"Alright," Ryosuke nodded, meeting the fire in his eyes.
"We'll watch each other's backs."
Jigoro had no objections and equipped Uzui Tengen with two Nichirin Blades.
He wanted to improve too badly to be stopped.
And with his talent and foundation, even basic Breathing knowledge combined with Nichirin weapons made ordinary mid–low-tier demons trivial for him.
There was little reason for concern.
More importantly—
The faster Uzui Tengen matured and mastered Musical Score, the more Ryosuke could secretly learn from it.
Even though the technique had a long wind-up, it was devastating against powerful enemies.
Once completed—it was a guaranteed finisher.
That said, Musical Score relied heavily on Uzui Tengen's abnormal hearing and reaction speed, and even required a sense of rhythm.
For Ryosuke—who had been a shut-in in his previous life—
Forget rhythm.
Singing without going off-key was already a miracle.
A hard weakness.
One that needed training.
Ryosuke thought for a moment, then added something that sounded utterly bizarre to anyone else.
"By the way…"
He paused. "The demon's head has to be mine."
Uzui Tengen looked him up and down, as if seeing this usually lazy yet sharp-edged guy for the first time.
"That's a flamboyantly strange request."
He stroked his chin, silver ponytail swaying.
"Fine! I've got no interest in demon heads. As long as my blades drink the blood of strong foes, you can handle the finishing blow."
He laughed loudly, agreeing without probing further.
To him, it was probably just an eccentric quirk.
Or an obsession with the decisive strike.
Either way—it didn't matter.
As long as he could fight.
As long as he could break through.
A true battle maniac.
Battle felt good.
Only a few days later, a Kasugai Crow arrived with a new directive.
"Caw! Yasui Ryosuke! Kanoe-level mission!"
"Thirteen young men have gone missing in Ine Town, Hokuriku region—"
"Large amounts of pottery clay found at the scene!"
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
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