Training Total Concentration Breathing / The Nichirin Sword Returns
"You choose one person to be the ghost, and the rest of you hide. The person who gets caught by the ghost becomes the new ghost and starts capturing the others."
After finishing his explanation, the Scribe added a new rule.
"Of course, if a ghost is not caught for a long time, there will be a punishment."
"It's alright, it's alright."
Upon hearing this, Zenitsu subconsciously patted his chest.
He only needed to keep dodging the ghosts' attempts to capture him; stalling for time was something he was very familiar with.
"Rock, paper, scissors, decide."
His excitement grew even stronger; Zenitsu was quite confident about this game.
He usually only loses one out of ten games.
Three seconds later, Zenitsu's excited expression turned quite calm.
He looked at other people's rocks, then at his own scissors, and almost burst into tears.
Chapter 293 Training in Total Concentration Breathing
After that, Zenitsu had no choice but to become a demon for the first time.
Soon, the day's training came to an end.
Exhausted, Tanjiro and the other three returned to the house and rested.
One day, two days, three days...
This situation continued until the fifth day, and the four people were already suffering under the Scribe's control.
"If you can't stand it, you don't have to come."
The day after the Scribe said those words, Zenitsu and Inosuke indeed did not come back.
"Those two have such a lack of perseverance!"
Seeing that the two had not come to continue their rehabilitation training, Kanzaki Aoi shouted, her face showing some anger.
"If you can't even persevere through something this small, when will you ever recover?"
With a wry smile, Tanjiro then began to explain.
Due to exhaustion from many days and a lack of mental recovery, Inosuke, under the double blow, chose to give up and act sullenly.
As for Zenitsu, he simply didn't want to come.
I've done a great job, quite well. I should go out and have some fun to balance work and rest.
After leaving those words, Zenitsu ran outside to play.
When facing Kanzaki Aoi, Tanjiro also said that he would definitely bring them back tomorrow.
"Need not."
Before Kanzaki Aoi could answer him, the Scribe shook his head.
"If Tanjiro and Nezuko don't want to come either, that's fine, I don't mind."
"That won't work."
Tanjiro quickly waved his hand to indicate that he would not do that. Tanjiro and Nezuko exchanged a glance and understood each other's thoughts.
Once I understand the trick, I'll tell Zenitsu and Inosuke.
Because Zenitsu and Inosuke left, and there weren't enough people, the Scribe had to make Aoi and Kanao Tsuyuri into members as well, making a total of four.
And so, another ten days of training passed.
"Thank you all for your hard work today."
With his head hanging low, Tanjiro said weakly, and then left with Nezuko.
On his way back to his room after finishing his meal and washing up, he saw Scribe after turning a corner.
"Mister Scribe, what's wrong?"
With a smile, Scribe waved his hand, signaling him to come over.
Tanjiro walked quickly to the Scribe's side, his face full of curiosity.
"Are you thinking about why you are so different from them, especially Kanao Tsuyuri?"
When his sore spot was pointed out, Tanjiro remained silent for a while before finally nodding.
Yes, I haven't figured it out yet.
Tanjiro could clearly sense the scent emanating from Kanao Tsuyuri through his nose.
Although it was far from what I felt from the Scribe, it was still quite powerful.
Among all the people I've met, he's already quite close to being one of the Ten Pillars.
"Don't be nervous. Don't be fooled by the fact that Kanao Tsuyuri about the same age as you. She has been practicing Breathing Technique for much longer than you have."
With a smile, Scribe took out a gourd from his bosom.
"Have you ever blown this thing before?"
"No."
After carefully examining the gourd in the Scribe's hand, Tanjiro discovered that the gourd was made to a very high standard, and that it was coated with a special layer of oil.
"This will become one of the important tools in your upcoming training."
After stuffing the gourd into Tanjiro's arms, the Scribe pointed to his own nose.
"Next, you need to start learning to breathe again."
"Okay, I understand."
He answered instinctively, but Tanjiro immediately realized what he meant.
Wait, learning to breathe, what does that mean?
"From today onward, you must practice Total Concentration breathing at all times."
With a wicked smile, the Scribe continued.
"Whether eating, sleeping, or doing anything else, you must use Total Concentration breathing without stopping for a moment."
"Um, I think I understand, but I still have one more question."
"Speak."
Tanjiro wiped the sweat from his forehead, and his face twitched.
"Is this really possible?"
"Of course, I can."
"I'll pretend I didn't say anything."
After a pause, Tanjiro continued to ask.
"Besides you, Mister Scribe, is there anyone else who can do this?"
"Zhu, any one of those ten people could do it."
Tanjiro stumbled and almost fell to the ground.
He finally understood where the gap lay between himself and the pillar-level team members.
No wonder the opponent was so strong; it turns out they were able to use Total Concentration breathing without stopping.
With a smile, the Scribe said to Tanjiro.
"If you can train to the level I described, you'll have taken the first step toward becoming a pillar."
"If I can do that, can I beat Kanao Tsuyuri?"
"No, that's not it. After all, she could have done it a long time ago."
For a moment, Tanjiro fell silent.
Chapter 294 The Return of the Nichirin Blade
"By the way, what does the breathing exercise that Total Concentration have to do with this gourd?"
Tanjiro took out the gourd from his pocket and asked in confusion.
"Does this mean I have to blow the gourd while practicing my breathing?"
"How could I? I wouldn't let you do such a boring thing."
Tanjiro was relieved after hearing the Scribe's words.
"I just need you to smash it to pieces."
"No problem, I definitely will... huh?"
Before he could finish speaking, Tanjiro realized what was happening.
"You're going to blow this gourd apart?!"
Tanjiro stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what he was hearing.
Are the Ten Pillars and Kanao Tsuyuri both capable of exaggerating the value of this gourd?
After his initial surprise, Tanjiro breathed a sigh of relief.
It's just a gourd about the size of a forearm; with more practice, I should be able to do it.
However, the Scribe seemed to sense his thoughts and gently shook his head.
"What you have in your hand is the basic version; the final version is different from this."
"It's different. How much bigger is it? Two times? Three times?"
Beads of sweat appeared on Tanjiro's forehead as his mind raced, pondering the size of his target gourd.
"Hey, you three, take the gourd out and let Tanjiro take a look."
After calling out into a room, the Scribe then spoke to Tanji.
"I'd better let you see the actual product."
Shortly after the Scribe finished speaking, Terauchi Kiyou, Nakahara Sumi, and Takahara Nahō came out of the room.
The three of them worked together to push a giant gourd.
The gourd is about 1.2 meters tall and has strange patterns carved on it.
With just a quick glance, Tanjiro sensed that the difficulty had increased dozens of times.
The thought that Kanao Tsuyuri, who looked so delicate, could blow up such a big gourd made him feel a little complicated.
"The most important organ for breathing is the lungs, so starting tomorrow, you should increase your long-distance running."
The Scribe patted Tanjiro on the back and said with a smile.
"I'll be there to help you."
"Yes, thank you, Mister Scribe."
Tanjiro bowed deeply, his face filled with gratitude.
Starting from the second day, Tanjiro began his long-distance running journey.
After fifteen days, he was surprised to find that his lung capacity had improved significantly.
The little gourd that Scribe had given him before could now be easily blown apart.
When Tanjiro shared this good news with the Scribe, the Scribe nodded in satisfaction.
"It seems that continuing to run is no longer very effective, so let's move on to the next step."
"The next step?"
Without saying a word, the Scribe simply told Tanjiro to get some rest that night.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~"