"Master, where is Senior Disciple Danryu?"
"I've recently been trying Total Concentration Breathing, but I still can't use it proficiently. I want to ask Senior Disciple Danryu for guidance."
"You need to teach the other junior disciples, so I won't disturb you."
The speaker was a delicate, beautiful young girl with shoulder-length dark green hair. Her silky hair rested softly on her shoulders, and a white flower hairpin adorned the left side of her hair. She stood there prettily.
Her name was Makomo, and she was fourteen years old.
Makomo had deep teal eyes, snow-white skin, and a petite figure. She looked less than one hundred and sixty centimeters tall, but her legs made up a rather large proportion of her body and were unexpectedly straight and slender.
Since it was summer, she wore a relatively thin pink kimono. A white ribbon circled her waist and formed a white bow at her back. Her sleeves only reached her elbows, exposing her fair, slender arms.
Beside Makomo stood a person wearing a Tengu Mask—Sakonji Urokodaki.
His half-white hair made him seem somewhat elderly, while his mask looked fierce and menacing. He stood ramrod straight, appearing cold and difficult to approach.
Sakonji Urokodaki wore loose blue robes embroidered with wave and cloud patterns, and his voice was stern.
"He's at the summit."
"Makomo, you may learn the Breathing Technique from him, but don't take his crooked ways seriously."
"Go on. Remember, you must not become obsessed with his strength. That is his path; no one else can walk it."
"For every person who imitates him, one dies."
Urokodaki had initially kept a straight face and spoken calmly, but the more he thought about that rebellious disciple, the angrier he became.
Why not follow the proper path? Why insist on dabbling in all sorts of crooked methods, even trying to learn the other Breathing Technique schools and integrate them all... If it were really that easy, others would have tried it long ago. Would it have been left for him?
Makomo stuck out her tongue and consoled him. "Master, don't be angry. Senior Disciple Danryu is very strong. He'll definitely bring you honor."
"Hmph, rebellious disciple! He clearly has talent, yet he refuses to apply himself!"
Sakonji Urokodaki snorted angrily again, flicked his sleeve, and left without looking back, heading off to instruct the newly accepted disciples.
Spreading her hands helplessly, Makomo rose onto her toes and began hopping up the mountain.
It was noon. A massive orange-yellow fireball hung high in the sky, radiating endless light and heat.
On Mount Sagiri in summer, the blazing sunlight filtered through layer upon layer of leaves, falling onto the ground in patches of varying sizes. The air on Mount Sagiri was far more humid than elsewhere, and every kind of vegetation grew exceptionally lush and dense. Green vines coiled around thick trunks, while roots faintly protruded from the soil like the meridians of a human body.
At the foot of Mount Sagiri was where Makomo and Sakonji Urokodaki currently were, while Senior Disciple was at the summit, his favorite and most frequently visited place.
Under the sunlight, Makomo's petite body raced swiftly along the gravel-strewn mountain path. Sometimes, on a whim, she leaped onto branches and bounded from one to another. Despite her young age, she was more agile than the mountain monkeys.
Throughout the entire journey, her breathing remained highly rhythmic—steady, long, and deep.
Before long, she had run from the foot of the mountain to its middle slopes. Mist appeared before her eyes, and even the path beneath her feet became somewhat indistinct.
However, she knew this place well. After several twists and turns, she found a narrow trail that led directly to the summit. It looked as though someone had forcibly trampled it into existence.
"Senior Disciple has climbed the mountain every morning without fail and even worn out a path. That's amazing."
Mount Sagiri was not low, but Makomo was fast as well.
About half an hour later, Makomo reached the summit.
From the middle slopes upward, Mount Sagiri was shrouded in hazy mist all year round. Even during the height of summer, when the sun blazed brightly, the mist remained. Tinted golden by the sunlight, it resembled clouds kneaded with fragments of gold, breathtakingly beautiful.
Yet upon reaching the summit, all the mist vanished. The view opened up before her, and the sunlight was so dazzling it could astonish the heart.
The summit itself was relatively flat. Beneath her feet lay cracked brown stone, without a single blade of grass.
Near the training ground stood numerous stone spheres and stone pedestals. Each was quite large, at least half a ton, but most had cracked apart. They were covered in deep fist marks, palm prints, finger holes, and more, while crisscrossing fractures filled the surrounding ground.
At the center of this training ground was a shirtless young man.
He was doing a handstand in midair, with nothing supporting him from behind.
His left hand was held behind his back, while the index and middle fingers of his right hand pressed against the ground, supporting his body as he rose and fell in one-handed, two-finger handstand push-ups.
No one knew how many he had done, yet he still looked completely at ease.
The muscles in his arm rose and fell rhythmically with his movements, making one's gaze burn.
His blue-and-white haori had been casually tossed onto the ground, and he did not care about the dust.
Like a little rabbit, Makomo hopped over, crouched beside him, and reached out to poke his chest.
It was so hard—like stone. She could not poke it at all.
And... it was even bigger than hers.
Makomo quickly lowered her head and secretly glanced at herself, her little face becoming slightly dejected.
She wondered whether Senior Disciple had some kind of secret. Otherwise, how could his pectoral muscles be so outrageously large?
She raised her head and spoke. "Senior Disciple Danryu, why are your chest muscles so—"
Before she could finish, the straight arm bent, then pushed forcefully. The young man nimbly flipped himself upright, stood, casually picked up his clothes from the ground, dusted them off, and put them on.
Makomo straightened up as well, then let out a startled cry.
The young man had curled his fingers and flicked her forehead with lightning speed.
"Show some respect. Don't touch people carelessly. And call me Senior Disciple Kurozawa."
Kurozawa Danryu, Sakonji Urokodaki's first disciple.
He was one of the rare people in this world with black hair and black eyes, both as dark as ink.
The most distinctive feature of his face was his pair of profound eyes, like a bottomless dark pool that could easily drown anyone who looked into them.
His features were not the refined sort. Rather, they resembled a sculpture carved by blades and axes, with deep, three-dimensional contours and sharp, distinct angles.
He possessed a brilliant, handsome appearance like the blazing sun. Looking directly at him felt dazzling enough to make one instinctively avert one's gaze, yet one could not help turning back to sneak another look.
Sword-like brows, bright eyes, and an elegant, heroic bearing.
(You can picture muscular Seti, muscular Dio, muscular Ohma, muscular Jotaro, and so on. Fellow readers are welcome to add more in the comments.) Beneath that handsome face was a tall, athletic body. Clusters of steel-cast muscles were embedded and hidden beneath his skin. They usually did not show, but the moment he exerted force, they bulged and tightened like taut cords, their proportions nearly perfect.
Standing near him, Makomo appeared even more petite and dainty. From afar, she looked just like a little girl standing beside an adult.
Unable to avoid it, Makomo covered her reddened forehead after being flicked, yet stubbornly declared, "I'm calling you Danryu!"
This world's setting resembled Japan during the Taisho era. Kurozawa Danryu—Kurozawa was his surname, and Danryu was his given name—so calling him Danryu felt more intimate to Makomo.
Kurozawa, however, always found the name Danryu somewhat strange. He had never expected that one day he would be called Senior Disciple Danryu.
Still, no one in this world knew what Senior Disciple Danryu meant, so it did not matter.
He did not think he was targeting anyone.
No breaking up canon couples. The female lead was the Demon King.
Before you continue