Nezuko had been hiding in a corner. At the sight, her little pink eyes widened, and she bounded over to Lu You, tilting her head to look at him suspiciously.
She pressed her delicate little fingers together and gently tapped the air, as though imitating him.
"Malevolent Shrine was Sukuna's cursed technique in Jujutsu Kaisen. This technique was also engraved into Itadori's body, and over hundreds of years, he developed and applied it to its pinnacle."
Even if its original owner, Sukuna, came himself, it would probably be hard to say that he was better than Itadori at using Malevolent Shrine.
In other respects, Itadori outclassed him even more.
For instance, total cursed energy and cursed energy strength, as well as the most terrifying of all, the soul domain.
The most important reason Itadori could slash seven kilometers in a single strike was not the Malevolent Shrine technique.
After all, Sukuna had also used it to its utmost, yet had never achieved that effect.
What lay at the very core... was always cursed energy!
The greater the total cursed energy and the stronger it was, the more powerful the techniques would be.
With his terrifying innate reserves of cursed energy, Yuta Okkotsu had become a Special Grade Sorcerer in a very short time.
That showed just how central it was.
Of course, it was still too early for Lu You to consider these things. Malevolent Shrine was a simple, brutal technique, but it suited him very well right now.
Because what he lacked most in the main world was a means of attack.
[Malevolent Shrine]: An innate cursed technique with specialized applications including "Lataib," "Cleave," "Furnace," and "Domain Expansion." A special supernatural ability of considerable strength. Unlocking this skill automatically grants all specialized applications.
When he saw this description, Lu You had initially been overjoyed. After all, as long as he used this technique properly, he could run rampant in the world of Demon Slayer.
But that was not actually the case.
Although he had obtained the technique, he had no cursed energy!
That was right. He had no cursed energy!
"What a damn rip-off!"
Did that mean he could not use the technique until he unlocked the Cursed Energy Like the Sea (purple) trait on the Yuji Itadori template?
He did not think things would be that absurd.
Otherwise, why would the Yuji Itadori template unlock Malevolent Shrine for him ahead of time?
After thinking it over carefully, Lu You looked at the other skill it had given him...
[Reverse Cursed Technique: Cursed Technique Reversal can both reverse the operation of an innate cursed technique and turn cursed energy, a negative energy, into positive energy to heal the body. After obtaining this skill, you may freely convert between positive and negative energy.]
"Positive and negative energy can both be freely converted? In the original, Reverse Cursed Technique could only convert cursed energy into positive energy, not positive energy into negative cursed energy.
"So now I can use this method to generate cursed energy?"
He immediately tried it. A moment later, a strand of strange energy flowed through his body. As he activated the technique "Lataib," a single slash drained the tiny amount of cursed energy he had produced.
"It really works!"
Understanding dawned on him, and Lu You smiled with delight, gently stroking Nezuko's little head.
Within a breath, a sudden weakness swept through his entire body.
He froze, then frowned.
"Could this be drawing on my bodily energy (positive) to convert it into cursed energy (negative), which is why I feel weak?"
If that was the case, this technique was still useless.
Relying entirely on that meager bodily energy, never mind Domain Expansion-Lu You would probably collapse after two slashes.
Wait, bodily energy... qi...
The [Strength: 6 Speed: 6 Qi: 1 Spirit: 1] on the panel shone brightly.
Could it be the Breathing Style?
So that was it. The Breathing Style!
"The stronger my Breathing Style, the more cursed energy I'll have, and the stronger it'll be. The techniques I use will become more powerful too."
After recovering, Lu You went outside to clear away the fallen tree. This was the price of his earlier urge to try his hand.
You looked so cool using that technique, but you really looked pathetic cleaning up afterward...
After all, he had wrecked someone else's home. How embarrassing.
He was not a husky.
Sakonji Urokodaki returned very quickly. He had only taken Tanjiro up the mountain; whether Tanjiro could return depended entirely on his own ability.
If he could not make it back, that meant he was not suited to becoming a demon-slaying swordsman.
Of course, he hoped Tanjiro would fail.
After all, over all these years, none of the students he had sent to the Final Selection had returned except Giyu.
Little by little, even he had begun to wonder whether the problem lay with him.
"This is..."
One of the thick pines outside the door seemed to be missing, and there were drag marks in the dirt. He raised his brows.
He grew wary, but his keen nose detected no smell of blood.
"Master Urokodaki, welcome back."
Lu You gave him a harmless smile. Apart from his slightly pale lips, he looked no different from before.
"Please come with me, Lu You. I'll teach you the Breathing Style."
Sakonji Urokodaki paid no heed to the change. After returning inside, he first laid out a soft bed for Nezuko, then returned to the main room and sat cross-legged.
Lu You naturally sat opposite him without standing on ceremony.
"Tanjiro Kamado is undergoing a test. If he can return here before dawn, I'll teach him how to become a demon-slaying swordsman."
"He'll definitely make it back."
"You seem to have a great deal of faith in him."
"Of course. After all, he's someone I was willing to vouch for. My judgment can't be wrong."
Quite shamelessly, Lu You passed off his familiarity with the plot as his own discerning eye. No one knew anyway.
Sakonji Urokodaki fell silent. After a long while, he changed the subject. "Have you learned anything about Breathing Styles before?"
"No. Giyu mentioned a little to me."
"A Breathing Style, as the name suggests, is a special way of breathing. It can draw out the body's potential, greatly enhancing physical abilities and perception."
Sakonji Urokodaki explained at an unhurried pace, and Lu You nodded slightly.
Unlike the so-called original manga, this was a real, fantastical world, so what Breathing Styles could accomplish went far beyond the original descriptions.
The water, flames, lightning, and so on produced by different Breathing Styles were not special effects, but things that actually existed. That was why Lu You had been able to punch Giyu's Flowing Dance.
He had even been sent flying by the waves of that Flowing Dance.
Although it was unscientific.
It fit the characteristics of a supernatural world very well.
"This is a special breathing rhythm. Watch the changes in my breathing closely."
Lu You's ink-dark pupils contracted slightly as he carefully watched the rise and fall of the other man's chest. The sound of the man's breathing reached his ears in a steady rhythm.
Urokodaki was deliberately exaggerating his movements to make his breathing more clearly visible.
Faintly, he seemed to sense the gentle burbling of flowing water.
"This is the Breathing Style... but I seem to be able to imitate it..."
Watching Lu You sink into thought, Sakonji Urokodaki nodded slightly. For a swordsman, the most important thing was always thinking. Someone who could use his head to find solutions was certainly better than someone who merely swung a Nichirin Blade.
Giyu, you were right. He really does have the makings of an excellent swordsman.
He could not help looking out the window. Pale golden light had gradually spread across the heavens, and the morning glow stained the clouds and mist red, yet Tanjiro had still not appeared at the door.
Boy, can you make it back here?
Hiss... huff...
Like the tide surging onto a beach, a long, drawn-out breath suddenly sounded beside Sakonji Urokodaki's ear. It was steady and powerful, immense yet delicate.
His pupils contracted, and he turned to look at Lu You.
"How is that possible..."
How could anyone learn a Breathing Style in just a few dozen minutes...
Was this person a monster?
Before you continue