Training in Thunder Breathing and Wind Control

Wanting to grow stronger always took money and time.

That had always been the truth of swordsmanship.

Create happiness with hard work? Without money, what was the point?

If you couldn't even afford a sword, why bother training?

Make money!

Baiyu could think of nothing else. He had a divine weapon in his hands, but couldn't use it. The thought was driving him crazy.

For now, the Kusanagi Sword had to remain on display because of its scabbard. He couldn't use it for everyday training.

Without a suitable blade, Baiyu decided to make a wooden sword.

After so many years of wielding swords, making one would be easy.

Once he had made the wooden sword and its scabbard, Baiyu decided to focus on improving his overall strength first. The Draw-Sword Technique wouldn't do much to increase it.

Completing a million draws would take several months.

For now, he decided to focus on Thunder Breathing and Wind Riding Sword Style, so he could improve his strength as quickly as possible.

Thunder Breathing was one of the methods of breathing and controlling one's breath.

In the cultivation of swordsmanship, differing interpretations had led to two main paths: sword techniques and sword intent.

The schools that emphasized sword intent believed in cultivating momentum through the sword and using that momentum to reach the divine.

They were all the sort who relied on sheer presence to show off. They loved putting on airs and intimidating people.

The schools that emphasized sword techniques, on the other hand, believed in winning through the unexpected and reaching the divine through technique.

They were more or less all impatient, grab-first types. Speed was everything; they aimed to end a fight in three seconds.

Countless people had died pursuing the ultimate heights of swordsmanship.

The sword-intent school focused on grasping the true meaning of the sword. They forged their own sword aura, then cultivated it into a domain. They made themselves the sword, beginning their training with breath control.

The sword-technique school focused on understanding the way of killing and studying the essence of the sword. They invested their emotions in the blade, cleaving the heavens with a single strike. They wielded the sword as people, honing their techniques to the utmost.

One focused on inner cultivation, the other on external cultivation.

Both schools had their merits, but people had limited energy and usually chose just one.

Baiyu had first become an external Sword Master, honing his sword techniques to the Sword Master level.

Breathing Styles focused on the inner self, treating the body as a sword to be forged.

Beginning with breath control, they gradually purged impurities from the body and improved its fitness and strength.

As their training progressed, they gained greater control over the muscles and bones in every part of their bodies, making them all part of their swordsmanship.

Once the muscles and bones throughout the body had been trained to a certain degree and brought under control, one gained a special ability: explosive power.

Each Breathing Style produced a different kind of explosive power.

Thunder Breathing, as the name suggested, was associated with lightning.

In the scene Baiyu had seen in an A-rank purple item, a boy named Zenitsu had used this Breathing Style to conjure lightning from nothing.

Every attack came with flashes of lightning and peals of thunder.

Baiyu covered the windows, put a note on the door saying he was out, then went inside and sat cross-legged.

"According to the essentials of Thunder Breathing, the first step is to sit quietly..."

Baiyu followed the knowledge in his mind, casting aside every distracting thought.

He slowly breathed in. Once his chest was full, he closed his eyes and counted silently. Only when he could no longer hold his breath did he stop.

Finally, he slowly exhaled the stale air in his chest.

"On the first breath, count to a hundred..."

Each inhalation and exhalation had to be extremely slow, with the faintest trickle of air. Only when there was no sound of breathing at all could it be considered a success.

He began again, repeating the same motions and silently counting with each breath.

One night passed...

A whole day passed...

It wasn't until the third day that Baiyu suddenly opened his eyes. He hadn't eaten a thing in three days, yet he could feel a breath circulating in his abdomen, warding off hunger.

"I've got the basics down!"

Baiyu's face lit up. The first step of Thunder Breathing was to convert breath into a thunderous energy that could be used to temper the body and make it stronger.

The first step was to master the breathing technique so he could enter the Breathing Style state at any time, without needing to sit quietly each time.

He stretched lazily, then sniffed the air. It reeked.

"The air in here... smells awful! That stench..."

Baiyu hurried to get up and open the windows and doors to air the place out.

Thunder Breathing had tempered his body without producing any black residue on his skin, but his complexion had been completely renewed. It was so smooth and soft you could almost break it with a touch, more delicate than a young woman's skin.

Breathing could temper the body!

The fine wrinkles on his handsome face, left by years of sleeping rough outdoors, had vanished. His skin was rosy and fair, his features sharply defined.

He had once been the best-looking man in Konoha. Now he was the best-looking man in the Land of Fire.

"I'm even more handsome now! I was already better-looking than Shisui. If I keep training, I'll be more handsome than Shisui and Itachi combined!"

While washing up, Baiyu gazed at his reflection and couldn't help getting lost in it.

His good looks carried an air of aloofness.

A lady-killer!

His handsome face was like an innate genjutsu.

Anyone who saw it would be entranced at first glance.

"Thunder Breathing has such an obvious effect on the body. If I train in other Breathing Styles, will I get even more handsome?"

Baiyu mused to himself as he tidied the house.

After airing out the place, Baiyu left home and bought some ingredients at the market to soothe his stomach, which had been empty for three days.

By the time he went out again, it was already noon.

Beneath the blazing sun, outside Konoha...

Baiyu walked quietly along a path with his eyes closed.

With the Mind's Eye, he could clearly sense what lay ahead without needing to see it.

"Two groups are following me. One of them is familiar; he's probably from the clan. The other three... I don't recognize them. Are they ninja sent by the Third Hokage?"

He had noticed the few tails the moment he left home.

Baiyu had been debating whether to kill them and add them to his mission tally.

In the end, he decided against it.

Keep the line long and you can catch a bigger fish. Killing these tails would shut down any chance of negotiating with the leaders of the two factions.

Not worth it.

Baiyu was short on money and needed a way to earn some quickly. Better yet, someone could just give it to him.

Besides, he planned to focus on training in Breathing Styles and Wind Taming Sword Technique for a while.

Baiyu was familiar with Wind Taming Sword Technique.

It had once brought him endless joy.

He'd loved summoning the wind and stirring up trouble in the canyon, drawing everyone's attention.

Every time he appeared, he was greeted with a torrent of insults.

It was every League player's favorite source of joy.

Double the fun.

But when he actually began training in Yasuo's swordsmanship, Baiyu ran into serious difficulties.

Yasuo's swordsmanship wasn't like Himura's Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu, a school devoted exclusively to sword techniques.

Instead, it was a hybrid school that combined sword techniques and sword intent.

Baiyu could already perform Wind Taming Sword Technique, but what he could do was worlds apart from the Wind-Chasing Sword Master.

His sword had no wind.

"I've got 'Hasagi,' but without 'Sorye Ge Ton,' how am I supposed to have any fun?"

Baiyu thought bitterly. The Wind-Chasing Sword Master's other two ultimates, Sweeping Blade and Wind Wall, required an even deeper understanding of the wind's path.

Sweeping Blade was the easiest.

Baiyu could strike the right pose, but he couldn't truly glide a great distance.

It was the difference between having gaps in E and having a seamless E.

His fun came in fits and starts.

Sweeping Blade without wind had no soul.

So Baiyu planned to go to the windiest place in Konoha and train in Wind Taming Sword Technique.

Only where there was wind could he catch its path.

With that in mind, Baiyu took a wooden sword and followed a forest path to a great canyon.

The Valley of the End!

A tourist attraction built by Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.

Konoha had even erected statues of the First and Uchiha Madara there.

It was some distance from Konoha, so few people came to visit.

Most people treated it as a memorial.

Baiyu coated the soles of his feet with chakra and leaped several times, landing atop Uchiha Madara's stone statue.

His eyes, which had been closed since he left home, suddenly opened. He shouted toward the distance:

"Face the wind!"

He swung the wooden sword. Nothing stirred in front of him.

A breeze brushed past his ear, but Baiyu didn't feel the slightest response.

His technique was flawless.

Yet it was worlds apart from Yasuo's swordsmanship.

He stared until his eyes ached, but still couldn't see the wind's path...

In that instant, Baiyu felt as if he'd been deceived.

How was he supposed to see the wind clearly!!?