Body Breathing

Why, after thousands of years, had these groups of people—with no connection to one another and completely different power systems—

all reached similar outcomes?

The Great Dao had three thousand paths, but they all led to the same destination!

It was because, at their core, all these people were advancing along the path of evolution.

"If the senses can control muscles and blood vessels, what about pores?"

"They should be controllable too, right?"

Kujo Tachibana murmured to himself.

After all, the human body had a full six billion muscle fibers, and the number of blood vessels was even more staggering.

Two hundred and fifty trillion!

Stretched end to end, they would span one hundred and fifty thousand kilometers!

Of course, the vast majority of them were capillaries.

Some capillaries in the human body were much smaller than pores. Ordinary people couldn't even see them.

Since he could control such tiny blood vessels, there was no reason he couldn't control his pores, was there?

With that thought, Kujo Tachibana focused and began experimenting on his own body.

He sensed the countless tiny openings spread densely across his entire body, which he had never noticed before.

Kujo Tachibana tried to slowly open and close the pores on his arm...

Since this was his first time controlling his pores, Kujo Tachibana was still a little clumsy.

The process was inevitably slow and cumbersome, but as time passed,

Kujo Tachibana's powerful mental strength made it increasingly easy for him to control the pores on his arm.

As the pores on his arm opened, air quickly entered Kujo Tachibana's body.

Before long, he felt a faint coolness in his arm.

The process went smoothly. Controlling his pores' opening and closing with his senses and mind wasn't very difficult.

Kujo Tachibana's eyes lit up.

He could feel it! His body really was breathing!

He was breathing through his pores alone, without relying on his lungs!

A long-missed sense of satisfaction filled Kujo Tachibana from head to toe.

Suddenly, Kujo Tachibana seemed to realize something. His pupils contracted, and he stared at his arm in shock.

He had only controlled the pores on one arm to breathe!

And that one arm was already producing eighty percent of the effect his breathing had when he was at full strength, with his lungs intact!

How incredible would it be if he controlled the pores all over his body to breathe?

Wouldn't a single breath through his whole body's pores be worth dozens of breaths through his lungs?

Kujo Tachibana hurriedly took several more breaths through the pores on his arm, finally calming his excitement.

After composing himself, Kujo Tachibana realized he might have celebrated too soon.

He could breathe through his pores now, but he couldn't use his old Breathing Style anymore!

On second thought, that was only natural. The old Breathing Styles had all been developed by Yoriichi Tsugikuni for the lungs.

Who could have expected a freak like him?

How could conventional Breathing Styles work for him?

But if he couldn't use a Breathing Style, what use was it to have such powerful breathing?

Excess oxygen entering the blood without being used would do more harm than good!

So now that Kujo Tachibana had mastered Body Breathing, if he wanted to gain this power far beyond anything he'd had before,

he would have to create a Breathing Style suited to Body Breathing!

That very night, unable to wait, Kujo Tachibana went to Tamayo's residence again.

After meeting Tamayo and Yushiro, Kujo Tachibana made no secret of it and immediately told them both about the Body Breathing method he had discovered.

After the two demons took some time to process the information, they exchanged a glance.

Tamayo asked, utterly perplexed,

"Mr. Kujo, do you mean you can now breathe through the pores on your body?"

Kujo Tachibana nodded seriously and said,

"That's right! If you don't believe me, Miss Tamayo, you can find something to plug my nose and mouth."

"Try it, and you'll see."

Tamayo didn't turn down Kujo Tachibana's suggestion. She wanted to see whether the pores could really breathe, as he claimed.

"All right. Yushiro, go get a basin of water."

After Yushiro left, Tamayo looked at Kujo Tachibana and asked,

"If you can breathe through your pores, then you can hold your breath underwater for a while, right?"

Kujo Tachibana shook his head and replied confidently,

"It'll be fine. Don't worry, nothing will happen to me."

"There's one more thing I'll need your help with. While I'm holding my breath, please draw a vial of my blood and see how Body Breathing differs from lung breathing."

Tamayo smiled and nodded. Even if Kujo Tachibana hadn't said anything, she would have wanted to do that.

She was truly looking forward to it. In her four hundred years of existence, Tamayo had never met anyone like Kujo Tachibana.

He had found an astonishing solution on his own to an illness even she was powerless to treat.

Yes, even without testing it, Tamayo already believed in Kujo Tachibana's Body Breathing method.

Perhaps this was the difference between a genius and an ordinary person...

Before long, Yushiro returned to the room carrying a basin of clean water.

Kujo Tachibana tied back his long hair and bent over, submerging his face completely in the basin.

As time passed, he reached the limit of how long an ordinary person could hold their breath—somewhere between forty and fifty seconds.

Tamayo took out a syringe with a needle, lifted Kujo Tachibana's arm, and slowly inserted the needle into a vein on the back of his hand.

Only after drawing a full syringe of blood did she remove the needle from the back of Kujo Tachibana's hand.

Then Tamayo turned to Yushiro and said,

"Yushiro, take this blood sample and analyze it. I'll stay here and keep an eye on Mr. Kujo."

"Yes, Lady Tamayo."

Yushiro said nothing more. He took the syringe and went to the laboratory the two demons had set up in the courtyard.

About five minutes later, Tamayo patted Kujo Tachibana on the shoulder and placed a clean towel in front of him, signaling that he could get up.

Kujo Tachibana straightened up and used the towel on the table to wipe the water from his face.

Looking at Kujo Tachibana's calm expression,

he looked nothing like someone who had just been holding his breath.

Tamayo was astonished. After asking Kujo Tachibana to sit down, she began questioning him in detail.

More than an hour later, Yushiro came in with a handwritten report of his findings.

He interrupted the pair, who had been chatting animatedly.

Tamayo picked up the report and examined it closely.

A moment later, Tamayo put down the report.

She looked at Kujo Tachibana with a smile and said,

"Congratulations, Mr. Kujo."

"Your breathing has now reached the level of a healthy ordinary person."