In truth, he had never taught Constant at all, and not because he was holding anything back.
It was simply that the most entry-level demon slayer swordsmen had absolutely no need to learn an ability that was meant for those on the verge of becoming Hashira.
Forcing it before one’s strength had reached that level would actually cause distraction in combat, leaving a swordsman unable to manage both swordsmanship and Breathing at the same time.
The standard practice was to wait until a swordsman had fully mastered Breathing and accumulated meaningful combat experience, and only then decide, based on natural talent, whether to pass on Total Concentration Breathing Constant.
But this kid had been maintaining Constant the entire way home, and Urokodaki had simply assumed it was a characteristic of his Breathing Style.
“Total Concentration Breathing Constant means maintaining the Total Concentration Breathing state every hour of every day, twenty-four hours without interruption.” Urokodaki offered a brief explanation, then gave the order.
“Try it now, hold the same breathing rhythm you had just a moment ago.”
Shinsuke put on a pained face.
“I…
I can’t do it on command, Master.
Just now inside the cabin…
I was just breathing naturally, I wasn’t deliberately maintaining anything.”
That was half true and half a lie.
Within five meters of Nezuko, Constant activated on its own without any effort on his part.
But away from Nezuko, he genuinely could not do it.
At least not yet.
Urokodaki’s brow furrowed deeper.
He observed Shinsuke’s breathing carefully, and it was indeed irregular and ordinary, utterly unlike the deep, steady, rhythmic breathing from inside the cabin.
“Can you still use the technique from earlier?” Urokodaki pointed at the wooden post across the training clearing.
“Full power.”
“That’s no problem!” Shinsuke drew a deep breath and settled into his stance.
A pink current rose from around his body, coiling swiftly up the blade and dyeing the straight edge a vivid pink.
The energy began to extend, condense, and take shape…
But this time, the extension was noticeably slower.
In the end, the pink blade that materialized on the sword was only four meters long, less than half the ten-meter giant from that morning.
The force behind it was considerably weaker as well.
Shinsuke could feel it himself: the power was lighter, but the Breathing cost hadn’t decreased one bit.
As expected, with Nezuko not nearby, even the technique’s power took a hit.
Harem Breathing, you really are unsparing.
But he kept that thought off his face and let out a shout.
“Harem Breathing, First Form, Valor of the Heroine!”
The giant blade came down.
A pink arc of light swept through the air and struck the wooden post.
Crack!
The post split and thudded to the ground.
A shallow groove was carved into the earth, about half a foot deep and two meters long.
Decent enough power.
But compared to that morning’s strike…
Not even close.
Shinsuke sheathed the blade and caught his breath, and this time the breathing was not performed, he was genuinely a little tired.
Beside him, Urokodaki stood with his brow tightly knit, and he had seen it clearly: Shinsuke had put in his full strength both times, holding nothing back.
But this gap in power…
“What happened?” he asked in a low voice.
“Why is it so much weaker than last time?”
Shinsuke wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued playing dumb.
“I don’t know either, Master…
it just feels…
feels off?
mm, everything flowing naturally that I had before.”
Feels off.
Urokodaki felt his temples begin to throb.
He forced himself to calm down and ran through everything in his mind: the circumstances of Shinsuke’s Breathing awakening, the use of the technique, the appearance and disappearance of the Constant state…
All the threads connected rapidly.
That pink aura…
he had named it Harem Breathing.
If the “harem” in that name wasn’t referring to a color, then what exactly was it referring to?
His Breathing had awakened when Nezuko tackled him to the ground and pressed against him in close contact.
When he used that technique, the urge to show off coming off him was no different from a peacock fanning its tail to outshine rivals.
On the way back, while carrying Nezuko on his back, his breathing was steady and he was even able to use Constant automatically without any effort.
The same was true inside the cabin, Constant never stopped.
But the moment he left the cabin, the moment he left Nezuko’s side, Constant cut off, and even the technique’s power dropped sharply.
He had said it himself: “it feels off.”
What kind of “off” was it?
If there was truly something different between the two situations, there was only one variable that had changed.
Nezuko.
With Nezuko there, this kid had everything going for him!
Without Nezuko, this kid fell completely flat!
This…
this…
Could it be that his Breathing Style…
what it was actually breathing in was…
An absurd, outrageous suspicion, one that made him feel the very phrase “Breathing Style” was being desecrated just by thinking it, sprouted uncontrollably in his mind.
No…
no, that’s impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
Breathing is the supreme art of demon slaying and the protection of humanity!
It is the crystallization of everything swordsmen have poured their hearts and lives into refining!
How could it possibly…
how could it possibly be this shameless?!
Urokodaki shook his head vigorously, trying to fling the terrible thought out.
But once the seed of suspicion is planted, it grows like a weed, wild and unstoppable.
He grabbed Shinsuke’s arm with a grip so strong it made Shinsuke wince and bare his teeth.
“Come.
Back inside.”
“Whoa whoa whoa, Master, slow down!
I can walk myself!”
Urokodaki practically dragged Shinsuke back to the cabin.
He did not open the door immediately, but instead fixed his gaze on Shinsuke’s face, and specifically on his mouth and nose.
“Open the door.
Go in.” Urokodaki gave the order, his voice taut, carrying a faint tremor.
Shinsuke didn’t understand what his master was so tense about, but obediently pushed the door open all the same.
A faint, light, sweet fragrance drifted out from the crack in the door.
Nezuko’s natural scent.
To an ordinary person it would have been extremely faint, barely perceptible.
But to Shinsuke, with his Harem Breathing…
It was exceptionally clear.
The next instant, the pale pink current at his mouth and nose rose again naturally and of its own accord, and his breathing rhythm deepened and steadied in an instant.
Total Concentration Breathing Constant, activated automatically.
Urokodaki: “!!!” You are reading on g.com, the official source.
He saw it with absolute clarity!
In the single second between before and after stepping through the door, this kid’s breathing state was like night and day!
The last shred of his hope was mercilessly destroyed.
Urokodaki felt as though he was going to crack apart.
His voice carried a slight tremor, sustained by one final desperate wish for a different answer.
“You…
you stay right here!
Face the outside!
Use that technique one more time.”
“Hm?
In here?” Shinsuke looked at the small, low doorframe.
“Facing the door!
Do it!”
“Okay, okay…”
Shinsuke turned to face the doorway and swung the blade once more.
“Harem Breathing, First Form, Valor of the Heroine!”
The violet-pink giant blade appeared again, this time running about seven meters in length: not as long as the first time, but clearly longer and denser than the four-meter version on the training ground.
The blade swept across the clearing outside the door, carving a groove deeper and longer than any of the ones before it.
Shinsuke caught his breath and wiped the sweat away.
“Hoo…
Master, that one felt a bit more…
natural, but using it back to back is exhausting, so I didn’t perform my best.”
Urokodaki stood in the doorway without expression, looking at the groove in the ground, then at Nezuko sleeping sweetly inside the cabin, then at Shinsuke catching his breath with eyes that radiated complete innocence.
He couldn’t take in a single word.
Near a woman…
power increases…
Away from a woman…
power decreases…
My guess was right.
Our Breathing Styles breathe in the air between heaven and earth, the elements, the energy of the world…
This kid’s Breathing Style breathes in…
A young girl’s natural scent!!
The three words “feminine fragrance” detonated inside Urokodaki’s mind like a bomb, leaving him dizzy, the world spinning around him.
No!!
There cannot be a Breathing Style this shameless!
This absurd!!
This utterly incomprehensible!!!
As a former Water Hashira who had devoted his entire life to the work of slaying demons, who held his honor more precious than his own life, who could face even the most fearsome of demons without losing his composure, Sakonji Urokodaki felt, for the first time, his very soul begin to tremble.
He…
was thinking about the future…
Shinsuke completing his training, joining the Demon Slayer Corps, going out on missions.
Everyone else slaying demons: drawing their blade with solemn resolve, Breathing blazing like fire, body moving like lightning.
Shinsuke slaying demons: first finding a female Corps member to stand beside him, then leaning toward her like a deviant and drawing two long, deep breaths.
Then pulling out his blade with a flushed, electrified expression and charging at the demon with a battle cry.
What a catastrophe!
What an absolute catastrophe!!
What a complete and utter catastrophe!!!
At this moment, Urokodaki’s knees began to go weak.