From the next day, they learned the Love Breathing and the Serpent Breathing. I decided to start with Mitsuri.
"Mitsuri, let have your sword for a mont."
"Yes, here you go."
I used the sword to perform Love Breathing and looked for problems.
Thwang-! Thwang-! Swoosh-!
"Wow... Amazing. I think you're even better at Love Breathing than I am?"
"Hmm... Love Breathing suits Mitsuri well, with her flexibility and strength, but it has a weakness in defense at close quarters. Also, you still seem to lack practical experience. You haven't been a Hashira for long, have you?"
At my words, Mitsuri looked embarrassed and answered, "Yes, that's right."
"Fortunately, you have a perfect sparring partner right beside you. Serpent Breathing has many variations, so if you spar with Obanai for the remaining ti, it will greatly help you gain experience."
At my words, Obanai patted Mitsuri on the shoulder and said, "I'll help you this ti."
"Thank you, Iguro-san!"
Then I spoke to Obanai. "The problem with Serpent Breathing is that it lacks a decisive single blow. Give your sword."
"Understood."
I took a stance, rotated the sword, and perford a powerful thrust.
Thwang!
"Wow~"
Clap, clap, clap!
Mitsuri admired my demonstration and applauded. But Obanai, analyzing the thrust I had used, said, "It's a simple thrust, but you added rotation."
"There's one more thing. It uses the ground."
I pointed at the indented ground where my foot had twisted.
"Obanai, you have less physical strength than the other Hashira, so you need to learn to use the ground. This is one of the techniques of Chinese boxing: the twisting stance. The principle is to transfer the force generated by twisting your foot into your fist, but since you're a swordsman, you transfer it to the tip of your sword."
"Hmm... I see."
"If you mix this in occasionally with your already varied swordsmanship, it will be hard to block. Instead, you'll need to practice it a lot."
"Understood."
From that day, their sparring began. Indeed, Mitsuri, lacking practical experience, struggled against Obanai's varied swordsmanship. Moreover, because Obanai quickly closed the distance and forced close-quarters combat, she lost every day.
"Boo hoo~ Maybe I don't have any talent for swordsmanship..."
Mitsuri gradually lost confidence and began crying and shoveling down huge amounts of food at altis. Obanai, beside her, didn't know what to do. I said to Mitsuri, "You're doing well. It's just a bad matchup. And now that it's finished, co to the backyard after you eat."
"Sniff, what's finished?"
"You'll see."
I then equipped Mitsuri with sothing I had been working on. What I had made was a highly flexible arm guard covering from the left shoulder to the hand. I even added sharp claws, so it could be used as a secondary weapon.
"This is..."
"It's a weapon and armor to reinforce your close-quarters combat. It's very strong and lightweight, so it won't hinder your movent, and it should block most attacks."
"Oh~ I see! I also love the design! What do you think, Iguro-san?"
Mitsuri, beaming, examined the arm guard from various angles, then spun around and asked Obanai.
"Uh, yeah. It's cool. It looks good."
Obanai's image overlapped with that of a boyfriend who, having gone clothes shopping with his girlfriend, stares blankly as she cos out wearing a pretty dress.
'He looks pleased, anyway.'
I said to the delighted Mitsuri, who had received the arm guard, "I'll teach you how to use it. Spar with Obanai for a bit."
"Okay."
For the next few days, I watched Mitsuri and Obanai spar, teaching her how to defend with the arm guard or attack in conjunction with Love Breathing. Gradually becoming accustod to the arm guard, Mitsuri began to overwhelm Obanai.
"Obanai, why don't you use what you practiced?"
I knew that Obanai had been separately making ti to practice the rotating thrust using the twisting stance that I had taught him.
"But this is a dangerous technique. Mitsuri could get hurt."
"I understand your desire to protect Mitsuri, but that only makes her weaker. Also, you need to use it in spars to beco accustod to it."
Obanai couldn't retort to my accurate, factual words. Then Mitsuri asked , "By any chance, is that the technique you taught Iguro-san earlier?"
"Yes. I saw him practicing it separately, aside from the sparring."
"Then, you weren't using it because you were afraid I'd get hurt? Iguro-san, I understand your feelings, but I'm a Hashira too. You don't need to go easy on ."
When Mitsuri said that, Obanai had no choice but to take his stance and begin sparring again.
KRAAAANG~!!!
"Ugh!!"
Certainly, when Obanai inserted powerful thrusts into his swordsmanship, Mitsuri beca flustered and began barely blocking the attacks. Already a highly varied form, Serpent Breathing now required her to be wary of powerful thrusts as well, making it extrely difficult. Thinking it might get dangerous if they continued, I stopped the spar.
"Let's stop here and eat."
"Hoo... Okay."
We talked about swordsmanship over the al.
"How was it trying it out?"
"Hmm... It's certainly excellent. It felt like sothing was filled in. It's a sha I still lack practice."
Mitsuri, also eating heartily, said with her mouth full, "Mumble mumble, too! I lack practice."
Just then, soone arrived at the clinic. I went out to see 'Kyojuro Rengoku'.
'Has a month already passed?'
Between Obanai's surgery and watching the two practice swordsmanship, over a month had already gone by.
"Long ti no see, Sword Saint. I've co to teach you the Fla Breathing!"
"Co in first. Have you eaten?"
"Not yet."
"Then, join us. We're about to eat."
This guy spoke everything loudly. Since it was part of his character, I just accepted it and took him to the dining room. Mitsuri, who was eating happily, waved and greeted Kyojuro warmly.
"Rengoku-san~! Good to see you!"
"Oh~ You guys are still here! Good to see you!"
Obanai also greeted Kyojuro.
"Long ti no see, Kyojuro."
"Good to see you, Obanai. You've taken off your bandages!"
"The Sword Saint treated ."
"I see! It looks good!"
I brought out more food and ate with them. Kyojuro talked about demons.
"Lately, the number of demons has increased, and their activity has beco more vigorous. So you two need to return quickly. I just finished a mission myself. There have been many casualties among the lower-ranked mbers."
"I see. Unfortunately, we should go back now too."
Mitsuri also said, sounding very disappointed, "Sword Saint, your food was so delicious... I'm sad to leave."
"If you're in the area, stop by. I'll at least make you a al."
"Wow~ Really?"
At my words, Mitsuri was overjoyed. Certainly, since Mitsuri had co, her enormous appetite had driven up food costs. So I used [Material Duplication] and the [Cook-Cook Fruit] ability to supply ingredients and food. If anything, I should be the one getting paid.
Anyway, the next day, as Obanai and Mitsuri prepared to leave, Nezuko helped them pack. Mitsuri had gotten along very well with Nezuko over the month, so Nezuko was sad again. I packed them so rice balls to eat on the road. I should have been the one receiving money, but I gave them a little for travel expenses.
"Wow~ You didn't need to make so many rice balls..."
"Considering your appetite, that amount is just right."
"R-Really? Heheh!"
Mitsuri looked embarrassed at my words. Obanai also said goodbye to .
"Thank you, Sword Saint. It was fun."
This guy didn't say sothing like 'I learned a lot', but 'It was fun'. Probably, he had enjoyed living with Mitsuri more than learning techniques from .
"Big sister Mitsuri, goodbye. I'll miss you."
"Nezuko~! I'll miss you too."
Mitsuri hugged Nezuko tightly, then waved and left with Obanai.
Two days later, I learned the Fla Breathing from Kyojuro. The Fla Breathing, much like Kyojuro's personality, was a straightforward, powerful, decisive swordsmanship. But each individual strike was strong, precise, and had a wide range, more than compensating for any drawbacks.
'This is tricky...'
Of course, I could refine the techniques to connect more naturally, but I doubted Kyojuro would follow suit given his personality. Doing so would take a long ti to get used to, and might even reduce its power, making it a very difficult breathing form to decide where to touch. So rather than refining the technique, I decided to refine the person.
"From today, you will perform the techniques slowly. Doing them slowly doesn't an doing them sloppily. You must perform them accurately with correct form. It will be very difficult, but I hope you'll follow along."
When I said that, Kyojuro answered without hesitation, as if he didn't need to steel himself.
"Understood."
From that day, Kyojuro perford the Fla Breathing very slowly, extending his techniques. Watching this, I began ticulously refining each strike so that it would generate proper power, even with the help of the nanomachines. I corrected bad habits and how to properly place force into the slashes.
Gradually, day by day, I increased the speed. As the month neared its end, he returned to his original speed, and Kyojuro's Fla Breathing boasted incredible perfection in each and every strike. Of course, its power was also incomparable to before. Around that ti, Kyojuro himself seed quite surprised by his own change.
"Incredible. You are truly the Sword Saint. To think you could raise the perfection of my swordsmanship like this."
"No, that's the tower you built up little by little. You're almost there now. To the Transparent World."
"The Transparent World? What is that?"
I explained 'The Transparent World' to him, just as I had to Shinobu.
"I see..."
"There are about two days left, so get plenty of rest before you go."
"Understood. Thank you for everything."
Kyojuro sincerely thanked , rested well, and then left. I gave him so travel money as well.
The next month, 'Gyoi Hijima' ca to the clinic, weeping with his hands together in prayer. I wondered what his deal was.
"Ah... It's an honor to et you, Sword Saint. I am the humble 'Hijima Gyoi'. Please, for the sake of pitiful sentient beings, teach the path I should take."
This guy had a lot of problems. From training so much, his joints were nearly ruined, his muscles had problems from overuse, and his heart was almost at its limit. It was so bad I almost thought he was crying from the pain. He never gave his body ti to recover.
"Wow... Are you a walking general hospital?"
"What do you an? The hospital is here."
A guy who couldn't even take a joke.
"... Anyway, co in."
"Namu Amida Butsu, I'll excuse myself."
I assigned him a room, but instead of resting, he was inside going 'huff huff' doing so kind of exercise. I just left him for the ti being.
The next day, I called Gyoi.
"Today is spiritual training. Lie here, and except for altis and bathroom breaks, just relax your body, lie down, and look at the sky. This training strengthens the mind, so please endure it."
Gyoi imdiately said he understood and lay down on the bed. Having heard that the many Hashira who had visited had beco stronger, he followed my instructions without question. In the anti, I massaged Gyoi's body and applied dicine to aid his recovery. For parts like joints that were too damaged to recover naturally, I had no choice but to use [Heal]. Of course, I also told him to just sleep soundly.
I had him rest like that again the next day. On the third day, I suggested a light spar. Gyoi began to loosen up, and he seed quite surprised at the state of his recovered body.
"Ah... My body... Sword Saint, what sort of sorcery have you worked?"
"I only gave your body rest. You weren't giving your body ti to recover, so fatigue accumulated and your body was gradually breaking down."
At that, Gyoi looked flustered.
"No..."
"You talked about saving sentient beings, but you couldn't hear the voice of your own body asking to be saved."
I took my stance and said to him, "Today, we're just going to loosen up, so don't overdo it."
"Understood."
Having rested sufficiently and felt his body change, Gyoi didn't push himself too hard and approached the spar. The next day, I again had Gyoi lie in bed and treated his damaged body.
Spending two days like that treating his body and having light spars, three weeks had passed before I knew it.
"Hmm... You've recovered now. Go outside and move your body."
"Alright."
Gyoi got out of bed, went to the backyard, and began swinging his flail and axe. He started crying.
"Ah... To think this is my body..."
He reveled in his healed body for a long ti, then returned to the examination room.
"Now I understand. That the body needs enough rest to grow."
"As long as you understand."
After that, I sparred with him for a few days and learned the Stone Breathing. This guy had nothing in particular to refine. He was close to a completed form. It was ti for him to realize things on his own. So I explained the state of mastery, fed him well, sparred with him, and sent him off.
After sending off Gyoi Hijima, I handed Nezuko a leather box. Inside the box were various dical instrunts.
"Teacher, this is..."
"Nezuko, you've now reached a level where you can be called a doctor. From now on, see patients in the next room. I'll hire more nurses, so don't worry."
Touched by my words, Nezuko said to , her voice trembling, "Teacher... thank you. But I don't know if I can do well."
"Don't worry. You've worked hard all this ti, so you'll do well. And I'll always be in the next room, so you can ask if there's anything you don't know."
Suddenly, Nezuko couldn't hold back any longer, burst into tears, and hugged . I patted her on the back.
"I'll try my best, Teacher."
From the next day, I hired two more nurses, and Nezuko began seeing patients in the next room. Because many people knew that Nezuko was my student, there were so who ca to her, but perhaps because she was still young, not many patients sought her out. But I thought it was only a matter of ti. Nezuko's skill was that outstanding.
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