Demon Slayer : The Silent Journey

[Seiji's POV]

(The next day)

Now I really wanted to stay beside Kanae for a longer period of time but that was a privilege I could not have just yet.

Shinobu told me that her sister needed sleep and she couldn't do that while I was constantly beside her. So to fix that, Shinobu made a timetable where I could be beside Kanae only for a limited amount of time.

It was like visiting hours in a hospital. I guess every hospital did that for a reason.

And although I liked to believe that my presence helped Kanae to relax- I wasn't going to argue with Shinobu who was a professional and also probably loved and cared for Kanae more than I did.

In the meantime, I wasn't idle as I decided to train in the open ground of the Flower mansion.

"Sun Breathing : Clear Blue Sky,"

The movements flow with the elegance of water. The action took place at the speed of thunder. The attack had the intensity of a raging flame with the violence of the wind. And the force it held could pulverize stone.

I spun my body swiftly and unleashed a circular slash that left a trail of bright yellow flames, the colour of the sun.

My deaf ears could almost hear the crisp sound of space burning with each stroke of my blade. It was thrilling and intoxicating.

"Sun Breathing : Raging Sun,"

I gripped my long sword with both hands and released two opposite horizontal slashes that were too fast that it looked like they happened at the same time. A burning arc of yellow carved a mark on the ground.

"Sun Breathing : Beneficient Radiance,"

I lept into the air. My limbs spiralled as if my body had gone out of control. But unlike how it looked, each movement was deliberate and meaningful. It was a lot like a dance.

It was a beautiful attack that unleashed ribbons of yellow flame in the sky. A final show of kindness before my blade took the head of my enemies.

"Sun Breathing : Fire Wheel,"

My dance in the air swiftly changed its pattern, Now I moved in one direction with all the force I had. I spun in the air, creating a wheel of fire with my blade.

I landed on the ground with a soft thud before I continued practising Sun Breathing until I mastered them to perfection.

My movement looked like a dance, an exact replica of Hinokami Kagura but that slowly changed as my attacks differed from just a simple dance. It soon became a set of attacks I had, ready to be unleashed upon any deserving demon that I encountered.

I started early in the morning, right after Shinobu allowed me to have breakfast with Kanae where I fed her her foods - like she often did to me while I was younger. The healthy blush on her face throughout started my morning perfectly.

But by the time I decided to stop my training, the sun was already past its highest point. It was afternoon. I had trained continuously for at least 6 hours.

And when I say continuously, I mean it literally. There was no water break, no pause or a moment of respite. It was a constant movement. Different forms of Sun Breathing left me like a waterfall and I never stopped until now.

Sun Breathing was vastly different from my version of mixed breathing in this aspect. It was literally impossible to get tired while using Sun Breathing because it followed the same concept as Stone Breathing. You get stronger and stronger the longer you fight.

It was a continuous application of power that snowballed into what seemed like infinite power. Obviously, it had limits but you'd never find that out because the enemy would have been dead.

And also, it was because Sun Breathing was not as intense as mixed breathing.

You see, every breathing style originated from Sun Breathing but that doesn't mean that Sun Breathing was a combination of all the breathing styles.

Well, it kind of is but at the same time, it was not.

It's tricky.

Sun Breathing was the 'jack of all trades master of none' of breathing styles. It could not compare to Water Breathing in precision, Thunder Breathing in speed, or Stone Breathing in raw power.

But it had all of them, just on a minor scale. That meant it had more speed and power than Water Breathing, more precision and power than Thunder Breathing, and more speed and precision than Stone breathing.

Truly a jack of all trades and master of none.

Upon this discovery, I questioned the statement that no one could learn Sun Breathing. I thought, maybe everyone could learn it but Yoriichi back then did not want to share his exact techniques.

But further use of Sun Breathing taught me something that cleared my misunderstanding.

It was not that no one was strong enough, fast enough, precise enough, explosive enough or courageous enough to learn Sun Breathing.

They were.

But no one was all of this at the same time.

Some people are born strong, and precise but not fast. Some were born explosive but not fast. Every warrior that ever lived had one of these attributes that they excelled at but they also always lacked one of them.

Sun Breathing requires a person to be multi-talented in all these aspects at the same time.

They have to be fast, strong, precise etc, at the same time. While most people are only either fast, strong, precise and so on.

Due to this reason, people couldn't learn Sun Breathing and it was much better for them to master one of the attributes they had - sharpen their limited talent - instead of focusing on all of them.

But Yoriichi was a genius unlike everyone else, so he could easily learn Sun Breatgthing. He had the best talent in every imaginable way.

The same applied to me. The fact that I could master all five major breathing styles was proof that I was talented in every aspect, much like Yoriichi.

It was a skill issue that others couldn't learn Sun Breathing. It was not that Yoriichi was a superhuman, although he was, it was not the reason why others couldn't learn Sun Breathing.

But in the unique aspect that each sub-breathing style decided to focus on, they all surpassed Sun Breathing. It was an obvious result since the forms of Sun Breathing were created by one person 500 years ago but other breathing styles had centuries to improve, by different users through the generations.

Sun Breathing was overpowered only as a Breathing Style and not as a technique. The techniques were outdated.

My version of mixed breathing, if I were to successfully mix all the five breathing styles together, would be the superior version of the Sun Breathing that Yoriichi used.

In the end, I learned that the Sun Breathing was not what made Yoriichi overpowered. He was the one that made Sun Breathing overpowered instead.

He could've used Minor Spark Breathing and he'd still whoop the asses of everyone in the verse. He was just built different. The Sun Breathing was undeniably powerful, but it was not what made the legendary figure.

"???"

I stopped my flow of movement when I noticed a small girl running up to me. Her purple eyes sparkled in the afternoon sun and there was a smile on her face. A smile so precious that it made me feel sorry that it existed in this demon-infested world.

"Big brother, I finished making lunch," the girl said when she reached me.

Kanao Shigan. She was my adoptive little sister.

"Come, let's eat," she invited me.

I released my breath, halting the pattern of Sun Breathing and I felt a small fatigue on my body. The early breeze of Spring caressed my body, cooling my sweat as I felt a chill all over my body.

"Thank you, Kanao," I said and couldn't resist patting her head. I was careful not to stain her with the sweat covering my body.

Kanao silently enjoyed my touch for a moment before she grabbed my hand and removed it from her head. She was a big girl now (in her words) so I shouldn't treat her like a baby.

She did not release my hand afterwards and pulled me towards the mansion.

"When are you going to allow me to train with you?" she asked me while we walked to the mansion.

I have noticed her gaze when I was training. She wanted to train with me seriously now, instead of getting guidance from Shinobu.

I promised to train her when she got older but she kept pestering me with this question. I don't know why.

"You said you'd train me personally when I get older, I'm already 13," she said.

Wait..

Hold the fuck up. No way my baby Kanao is a teenager already.

"Who's 13?" I asked.

Kanao stopped in her tracks and looked back at me with a stoic face.

"I turned 13 in May. It was during the time you were in bed so you missed my birthday," she said, so confidently that I almost believed her.

Ain't no way she is 13. I thought to myself.

Until the realization slowly sank into my heart while I looked at her unamused purple eyes. Tanjiro was already around 13 when I saw him.

He and Kanao are in the same generation. Heck, I suddenly remembered Kanao was slightly older than Tanjiro.

What the fuck.

I thought there was at least five more years between 12 and 13. Why was the age of 13 such a big leap from 12? Was it due to the fact that 13 is the beginning of the teenage years?

"I heard you were already a Hashira at my age," she commented.

Right.

Holy shit, when did she grow so fast? She still looked like the same little girl to me. Please stop growing and remain my cute little loli sister I can spoil endlessly.

In the end, I sighed.

"Okay, we will start your training soon too," I said.

I was already planning on training Tanjiro, so I guess I could add Kanao as a disciple. They were also of the same generation and everything.

Kanae gave me a bright smile after that and we continued towards the mansion.

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[IMAGE]

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Author : Merry Christmas everyone.

I would've liked to give more chapters but I've been occupied with the celebrations and stuff.

I didn't think it would be like this either. I thought it would be quieter this year but Christmas has this way of brining people together.

Thanks for reading