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Chapter 128: The Reason Nezuko Learns Sun Breathing
In the end, Aoi was saved by Kanae.
Though Suyan felt that Kanae's true intention wasn't actually to save her.
Rather, she just wanted to see that depressed, frustrated little pout on Shinobu's face when she was angry but completely powerless to do anything about it.
You had to admit, when it came to true sadism, Kocho Kanae reigned supreme.
After that, Aoi and Kanae shared another touching reunion, and the three women went off together to find Tsuyuri Kanao.
However, Shinobu was still a bit guarded against Suyan, so she didn't let him tag along.
Suyan could only shrug and stay in his room to enjoy the delicious breakfast Aoi had prepared.
A bowl of white rice, grilled saury, a bowl of miso soup, and a side of pickled ginger—Shinobu's favorite.
All in all, a very standard, traditional Japanese breakfast.
As the head housekeeper of the Butterfly Mansion, Aoi's culinary skills were undeniably excellent, making for a very satisfying meal.
Suyan quickly polished off the food and began wandering around the estate.
Soon, he arrived at a spacious building that looked like a dojo. Inside the empty training hall, a petite figure was practicing alone, swinging a wooden sword.
Though the movements looked a bit amateurish, the forms she was executing clearly belonged to the strongest of all Breathing Styles: Sun Breathing.
"Suyan!"
Seeing him enter, the girl's attention was instantly drawn away.
She dropped the wooden sword and rushed toward him.
Suyan patted her head and asked curiously, "Nezuko? Why are you practicing swordplay all by yourself?"
The girl in the dojo was none other than the heroine of the Demon Slayer world, Kamado Nezuko.
And naturally, what she was practicing was the genuine Sun Breathing.
When Tanjiro had demonstrated the style earlier, Suyan remembered the lore stating that Nezuko possessed even higher swordsmanship talent than her brother. Because of that, he had specifically asked her to stay and watch.
When Tanjiro explained the breathing rhythms and the corresponding physical forms, Nezuko had listened closely.
Because of this, Suyan wasn't surprised that she could use Sun Breathing. He was just a little surprised that she had woken up so early to try practicing it on her own.
"Suyan, can you teach me?"
Nezuko didn't answer his question; instead, she pleaded with him in a sweet, coaxing tone.
"Of course I can."
Suyan smiled, not refusing her request.
It wasn't a big deal anyway.
Besides, he had wandered into this training hall specifically to find a quiet place to test out Sun Breathing himself.
He wanted to see if he could grasp one of the ultimate esoteric techniques of the Breathing Styles that Busujima Saeko had unlocked: the Transparent World.
"Your posture was a little off just now," Suyan said. "Run through the forms of Sun Breathing once more for me, and I'll correct your movements."
Although both Suyan and Saeko felt that the Breathing Style forms were too rigid, lacking flexibility and feeling awkward in actual combat, it was different for beginners.
For someone completely new to swordplay, rigorously drilling the basic forms into muscle memory was exactly what they needed to do.
It was like solving a math problem. The most important step was to memorize the formula and rigidly apply it first.
You couldn't just rely on wild imagination and expect to jump straight to the answer.
"Okay!"
Nezuko agreed brightly.
She picked up the wooden sword she had dropped and demonstrated the twelve forms of Sun Breathing in front of Suyan.
Aside from looking a bit green and stiff, there were no major flaws.
As expected of the girl canonically confirmed by the author to be even more suited for swordsmanship than Tanjiro, Suyan thought.
After correcting Nezuko's movements, Suyan Conjured a White Oak Bokken of his own and began practicing the forms alongside her.
He was trying to use this method to comprehend the Transparent World.
Over and over again.
Suyan's movements became increasingly fluid, and the time it took him to execute the entire sequence of Sun Breathing forms grew shorter and shorter.
"So amazing!"
Watching him, Nezuko couldn't help but stop her own practice. She stood there, mouth agape, quietly watching him perform the dance.
Truth be told, part of the reason she was working so hard to learn Sun Breathing was because of Suyan.
She knew he was strong, but yesterday afternoon, when Shinobu had ambushed him with Insect Breathing...
Even though Suyan had easily dodged it, the moment had forcefully reminded Nezuko of the utter helplessness she felt when her mother and brother were turned into demons.
Coupled with Suyan's obvious expectations of her, she found herself motivated to master the Breathing Style she hadn't been terribly interested in before.
Suyan had no idea what Nezuko was thinking. His execution of the forms was growing faster and faster.
Until finally, he performed all twelve forms of Sun Breathing simultaneously in a single instant.
Or rather, the thirteenth form—created by continuously linking the first twelve forms together.
But instead of calling it thirteen separate forms, Suyan preferred to think of this as the true Sun Breathing.
Otherwise, with Yoriichi Tsugikuni's god-like abilities, would he really only create twelve distinct strikes?
No. It was because Muzan Kibutsuji had a total of twelve hearts and brains combined.
Therefore, Yoriichi had summarized the strikes needed to hit Muzan's twelve weak points into Sun Breathing.
But because others lacked Yoriichi's innate talent, they had to break it down into twelve separate forms just to learn it.
Even then, many still couldn't master it, forcing them to derive branching Breathing Styles from the original.
The moment Suyan understood this concept...
The Aura inside his body triggered a miraculous chemical reaction, automatically erupting outward.
It expanded into a spherical domain of En, enveloping the entirety of the Butterfly Mansion.
In that instant, the En—which usually functioned as a simple radar to detect enemies—underwent a qualitative transformation.
Suyan could see it clearly.
The blood flowing through his veins, the beating of his heart, and the contraction trajectory of every single muscle fiber as he moved.
Through this miraculous vision, he felt as though he could predict the very next movement of every single person within the estate.
For instance, on the other side of the mansion.
Kanae and the others had just run into Tsuyuri Kanao.
Even though Kanao hadn't moved yet, Suyan could clearly see her heart rate rapidly accelerating.
Blood rushed upwards, oxygenating her brain, while the muscles in her calves twitched, preparing to spring.
Sure enough, the very next second played out exactly as Suyan had "seen" it.
After emotionally crying out for her sister, Kanao launched herself into Kanae's arms.
Seeing this, Suyan knew with absolute certainty.
He had succeeded.
He had successfully comprehended one of the supreme esoteric techniques of the Breathing Styles.
The Transparent World!
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