The Invincible Drive of a Chuunibyou

"You want to create your own forms?" Jigoro Kuwajima looked at Yu Luo's serious expression, disbelief still written across his face.

"Yeah!" Yu Luo nodded excitedly, sinking into his fantasy. "I've even thought of a name for the forms. I'll call it the Flying Dragon Sword Style, and I'll put every form I create under it from now on."

As he spoke, Yu Luo failed to notice Jigoro Kuwajima's face growing darker and darker. The veins on the old man's hand gripping his cane bulged, and his entire body trembled faintly.

"By the way, old man, how many forms does Thunder Breathing have in total? Which form number should the one I create be?"

The veins on Jigoro Kuwajima's forehead bulged, and his face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. Hearing Yu Luo's words, he finally snapped. He angrily raised his cane and brought it down hard on Yu Luo's head, making him clutch his head and squat down at once.

Still not satisfied, Jigoro Kuwajima deliberately struck the parts of Yu Luo with more flesh. Yu Luo howled repeatedly, while Kaigaku watched him as though he were an idiot.

"I'll let you create forms!"

"Ah!!!"

"Flying Dragon Sword Style, was it?!"

"Stop hitting me..."

"You don't even know how many forms Thunder Breathing has, and you want to invent your own?!"

"Help! The old man's gone mad!"

After more than half an hour of cane-based education, Yu Luo was wailing like a ghost and howling like a wolf before Jigoro Kuwajima finally stopped, panting heavily. He glared at the bruised and battered Yu Luo. "Stop thinking about nonsense and learn the First Form first!"

With that, Jigoro Kuwajima left in a rage. Kaigaku looked at Yu Luo's miserable state, struggling to hold back his laughter, his eyes full of schadenfreude.

"Senior Brother, I'm going to practice the First Form."

"Go on, go on. Ow, this hurts like hell..." Yu Luo sighed and waved his hand before slowly getting to his feet. Although the old man had looked vicious, he had actually held back carefully. Yu Luo only felt pain; his body had suffered no real damage.

"As expected of a former Hashira." Yu Luo sighed. "He's just too rigid. What's wrong with creating my own forms?"

"You really are planning to make your own Flying Dragon Sword Style..." the system said speechlessly.

"Of course!" Yu Luo rolled his eyes. "The Flying Dragon Sword Style is every swordsman's dream! If I had Mochi, I'd even make Future Eternal Calamity Slash!"

"..." The system was utterly speechless at Yu Luo's thoughts. "As I recall, you don't know any of those either."

"Other than you and me, who else has seen the Flying Dragon Sword Style? If I say it is, then it is!"

"..."

Time passed uneventfully. Although Yu Luo kept talking about creating his own forms, he did not set aside his Thunder Breathing training. In just six short months, he learned all five of Thunder Breathing's remaining forms.

After that, Yu Luo's daily training gained another activity besides chopping wood, carrying water, and swinging his sword: practical combat. Though calling it practical combat was generous—it was really just Yu Luo taking a one-sided beating from Jigoro Kuwajima.

"Old man, I came up with another move last night. Watch closely!" Yu Luo gripped the hilt with his right hand, lowered his stance, and assumed an opening posture. His chest rose and fell slightly as he adjusted his breathing.

"Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form: Dragon Nest Flash!"

Yu Luo turned into a bolt of lightning and shot toward Jigoro Kuwajima. Thunder boomed as fine yellow sparks of electricity wrapped around his sharp blade. At a speed beyond the naked eye, he slashed more than ten times at the old man, weaving a razor-sharp net of lightning.

"Came up with it? Came up with it?!" Jigoro Kuwajima's beard stood on end with rage. He thrust his cane forward, instantly dispersing the lightning net, then swung it hard against Yu Luo's head several times before Yu Luo could withdraw his blade.

"It hurts! Stop hitting me!"

"You're using the Second Form, Rice Spirit, and calling it a self-created form?!"

Yu Luo tried to dodge, but the cane seemed to have eyes. He could not evade it at all. He could only use Thunder Breathing as he clutched his head and fled like a rat, quickly escaping Jigoro Kuwajima's sight.

"Just wait! I'll create a better form tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow, I'll smash your head in!" Jigoro Kuwajima was so enraged that he even threw away his cane, hurling it viciously at Yu Luo. Yu Luo was so frightened that he did not dare say another word and immediately ran away.

When he reached the mountaintop, Kaigaku was swinging his sword beneath the peach tree where Yu Luo had once practiced the First Form, Thunderclap and Flash. The boy's body had grown quickly. In only half a year, Kaigaku had shot up nearly half a head taller and now reached Yu Luo's shoulder. The childishness on his face was gradually fading as well.

"Yo, Junior Brother Kaigaku, practicing the First Form?" Yu Luo greeted him. Kaigaku glanced at Yu Luo and replied coolly, "Yeah."

"Keep practicing. If Master comes, just say..."

"I know. Say you aren't here." Kaigaku sheathed his sword and sighed. Clearly, this was not the first or second time. Over the past half year, he had seen this happen every day and had long since gotten used to it.

"Senior Brother, did you get beaten again because of one of your self-created forms?" Kaigaku sat beside Yu Luo with a complicated expression.

"Haha... The old man's just too old-fashioned!" Yu Luo said indignantly. "They were all pretty good!"

"Maybe Grandpa just doesn't want you to get distracted." A flash of frenzied jealousy passed through Kaigaku's eyes. "After all, Senior Brother, you learned every form of Thunder Breathing after training for only one year! Grandpa said you're a genius at learning Thunder Breathing!"

"Tch, he was just saying that." Yu Luo looked unconvinced. Then he turned to Kaigaku and asked, "What, are you still troubled by the First Form?"

Hearing Yu Luo's words, Kaigaku sighed as if casually.

"Yeah, Senior Brother. Do you have any secret to learning the First Form? I haven't found the way into it at all."

Yu Luo scratched his head and carefully recalled his experience of learning the First Form. Then he shook his head heavily.

"No. The old man was less patient when teaching me than he was when teaching you."

"Is that so? Then I'll go figure it out some more." Kaigaku lowered his head, stood up, and walked toward the large peach tree.

"Watch this—Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form: Nine Headed Dragon Flash!"

Yu Luo appeared before Jigoro Kuwajima's short figure in an instant. His katana, wrapped in lightning and the crackle of thunder, unleashed nine strikes—Bamboo Splitter, Robe Cut, Reverse Robe Cut, Left Thrust, Right Thrust, Left Rising Cut, Right Rising Cut, Headwind, and Thrust—leaving Jigoro Kuwajima nowhere to evade.

Unfortunately, the furious Jigoro Kuwajima still shattered Yu Luo's sword momentum directly with his cane. What followed was another one-sided beating, sending Yu Luo running for his life with his head in his hands toward the big peach tree atop the mountain.

And in the days that followed—

"Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form: Twin Dragon Flash!"

"Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form: Earth Dragon Flash!"

"Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form: Flying Dragon Flash!"

With Yu Luo's tireless, incorrigible persistence, Jigoro Kuwajima finally stopped beating him. Instead, he earnestly explained Yu Luo's current problem.

"I know you are exceptionally gifted. In only one year, you have mastered every form of Thunder Breathing. I can understand your desire to break through the limits set by those before you and create forms of your own."

Jigoro Kuwajima sat on the porch and patted the space beside him, signaling for Yu Luo to sit down as well.

"But have you truly mastered Thunder Breathing?"

"Truly mastered Thunder Breathing?" Jigoro Kuwajima's words left Yu Luo confused.

"Didn't I learn all the forms?"

"You have merely grasped them, not mastered them completely!" Jigoro Kuwajima looked at Yu Luo sternly. Yu Luo could not help but become serious. He could already sense that Jigoro Kuwajima's next words might determine the direction of his growth for the next several years.

"No matter how you put it, Thunder Breathing is still breathing. Breathing is a human instinct. Only when you can treat Thunder Breathing as an instinct, maintaining it at every moment, can you be said to have truly mastered it. Only then will you have the ability to create forms that belong to you."

Seeing Yu Luo sink into thought, Jigoro Kuwajima spoke earnestly. "You are still far too distant from that realm. Next, try maintaining Thunder Breathing while swinging your sword."

"The next Demon Slayer Corps selection will be in two years. Work hard!" Jigoro Kuwajima stood and said this lightly to Yu Luo before heading up the mountain to inspect Kaigaku's First Form practice.

Yu Luo pondered for a long while before finally sighing with a face full of resentment. "Why is it so hard to be a chuunibyou for once?"

"Once you pull a Flash, you can be a chuunibyou every day!" the system quipped.

"Heh. Trying to trick me into pulling cards again? No chance!"

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