Several days passed.
On Mount Sagiri, Natsuo gradually became more familiar with the three Water Breathing swordsmen.
Sakonji, the trainer, always wore that intimidating tengu mask, but in truth he was a considerate, kindhearted old man.
After agreeing to Natsuo's request, he did not brush him off or hold anything back.
On the very next day, he brought him up the mountain and started a training plan alongside the two kids.
And it seemed he was also worried Natsuo would not sleep well here.
That same night, he even went down the mountain to the town and bought him a full set of bedding.
As for the two kids, Sabito and Giyu.
In Natsuo's eyes, they were the kind of talent you rarely saw.
According to Sakonji, Sabito had not been training for that long, and Giyu's time was even shorter.
Yet both of them had already completed their basic physical conditioning, learned the breathing style itself, and learned the sword forms that came with it.
Among them, Sabito was far stronger than Giyu.
In Sakonji's words, if things continued like this, he would soon arrange Sabito's training in Total Concentration.
From Natsuo's perspective, Sabito already had the strength to pass Final Selection.
Compared to the candidates Natsuo had seen back then, Sabito's attributes and skill level were higher by a clear margin.
And his temperament was steady, his swordsmanship extremely clean.
Standard, efficient, and relentless chains of forms, combined with a more aggressive offensive rhythm, made his Water Breathing carry a hint of roaring surf rather than mere gentleness.
He did not rely on strange tricks or unexpected feints, but he also did not leave obvious openings.
A straightforward, attack oriented swordsman.
Strong.
When Natsuo compared him to Seiko, who also used Water Breathing, it honestly felt like Seiko was doing "background extra Water Breathing."
Giyu's personality, on the other hand, was far more introverted and quiet.
He rarely smiled, his expression flat like still water in a deep pond. It genuinely made Natsuo wonder if he was some lost Uchiha kid.
Only when Sabito was nearby would he occasionally show something that looked like a smile.
Still, after a few dinners cooked by Natsuo, he slowly warmed up to this suddenly added "senpai."
As for strength, Natsuo's evaluation of Giyu was more complicated.
Because he was younger, his attributes were indeed lower than Sabito's.
That was normal.
But when it came to comprehension and raw talent, Giyu faintly felt like he might surpass Sabito.
Every time Sakonji personally demonstrated breathing, the speed at which Giyu's progress bar rose was nearly fifty percent faster than Sabito's.
It just was not stable.
Sometimes it did not move at all.
Natsuo could not tell if Giyu's mind wandered off, or if, as Sabito said, it came from a deep rooted lack of confidence.
Fortunately, Sabito was there.
His encouragement, and their private talks, meant that even when Giyu's training stalled, he was never truly left behind.
Giyu's swordsmanship matched his temperament.
More passive, but also colder and more condensed.
Most of the time he looked calm and detached, like he was only observing and waiting.
Then, at the final moment, he would rely on his frightening intuition and reactions, striking after the enemy moved, adapting on the fly, and using the most appropriate form.
A defensive counterattacker.
"Senpai, senpai. Senpai!"
Sabito's voice snapped Natsuo out of his idle state.
As the training animation returned to normal speed in Natsuo's mind, he turned his head and looked at Sabito, who stood beside him with a complicated expression.
"What is it?"
Sabito handed him the bento their trainer prepared.
"It's noon, senpai. You've been swinging your sword for four and a half hours straight."
"Huh? Is that a problem?"
"Sensei said that training at too high an intensity doesn't give better results. Not only does the effect get worse, it can also hurt your body."
He glanced at the bento again.
"And I feel like if I didn't stop you, you'd keep training until evening."
Natsuo released the special breathing rhythm.
Heat steamed off his body, twisting the air slightly.
It was the most honest shape of power and effort.
No decoration, no noise, only silent proof of how far a human body could be forged.
He picked up a towel and wiped his sweat, thinking.
So there was a rule like that?
He had assumed that if he maxed out training time and let the system auto grind, he would get the most experience.
So the game actually had a time allocation mechanic too?
While Natsuo was thinking, Sabito and Giyu exchanged a look.
In each other's eyes, they both saw a hint of respect.
Training at high intensity for an entire morning was already demanding, both physically and mentally.
But for someone like Natsuo, maintaining full focus, with almost no distortion in his movements, for that long…
And the key point was that he was like this almost every day.
Not just for the training tasks Sakonji assigned and daily drills.
Even when he cooked, hauled water, chopped wood, or fished…
He carried the same frightening seriousness and concentration into everything.
What incredible grit and willpower.
Across from them, Natsuo continued wiping himself down.
Sweat ran like a stream from his sharp jawline, only to be wiped away again and again, smearing into sheen.
Under the sunlight, it was like a flowing glaze spread over his flexing muscles, alive and breathing.
His back expanded and contracted like wings with each breath.
His abs were like fire tempered plates, taut as iron.
No wonder Sensei had been praising him these past two days.
"This is what it looks like when someone fuses daily life and training to the extreme. This child might truly be an exceptional genius."
When Giyu remembered how, a couple days ago, he had felt unbalanced because Sensei seemed to pay more attention to Natsuo…
Shame and self blame rose in his chest.
With effort like this, of course Sensei would value him.
With effort like this, of course he would become stronger.
"Giyu, we'll be as strong as senpai one day too."
Perhaps noticing the quiet turbulence beneath Giyu's calm face, Sabito gave him a serious smile.
"We're going to become Demon Slayer swordsmen. When we see a swordsman like Natsuo-senpai, we should feel encouraged."
"We shouldn't feel small because someone is strong."
"We should work to become someone like that."
He patted Giyu's shoulder.
Natsuo had finished drying off and looked at the two kids whispering to each other.
He raised his chin naturally.
"OI. Don't just stand there. Eat, rest a bit. This afternoon, I want to learn some forms from you two."
Senpai was thinking about getting stronger every second of the day.
Both kids thought the same thing.
"Um, senpai."
Sabito hesitated, then asked with genuine curiosity.
"Your focus, how do you do it? Even I can't push myself to a level this strict."
Focus?
Wasn't it just… set up the plan and let the system grind?
Then Natsuo remembered they were NPCs inside the story, not players he matched with in other games.
This game was so real that he often forgot it was a game.
"That's not focus, Sabito."
"That's flow burnout."
Sabito froze.
"Flow… burnout?"
"That's right."
Natsuo nodded, his gaze turning distant.
"When your mind becomes extremely concentrated and enters a flow state, normal people will exit because of fatigue."
"But I'm different."
"At that moment, I actively burn out my fatigue perception."
He raised a hand and pointed at his temple, continuing his nonsense with a straight face.
"Just like breathing styles forcibly boost the body's functions, I use a special form of meditation to temporarily cut away thoughts like fatigue, boredom, and the passage of time from my consciousness."
"My body keeps moving, but my mind enters a state of absolute emptiness."
"External time loses meaning to me."
Sabito's mouth opened slightly, his eyes shining with shock and understanding.
"So senpai isn't 'enduring.' You've entered a higher realm of training?"
"You could interpret it that way," Natsuo said solemnly, giving a tiny nod.
Nearby, Giyu had been silently eating.
When he heard that, he nearly choked.
He did not look up, only flicked his deep blue eyes toward Natsuo.
There was no expression, but somehow it said everything.
That's made up, but it sounds real.
Then he lowered his head again and kept eating his bento.
He had heard Natsuo's story from Sakonji.
Demons had taken everything from him.
Family. A little sister.
Just like them, this senpai had been scorched and driven by hatred in countless nights.
Driven to become stronger, stronger to the point of wanting to slaughter every demon.
It wasn't flow burnout at all.
It was hatred for revenge.
Beneath that expression that always seemed half absent minded, what he was suppressing might be an obsession even stronger than Sabito's or his.
When Giyu recalled the scene of his sister dying to protect him…
His eyes and breathing shifted slightly.
He felt like he understood this senpai a little.
Maybe training wasn't "endurance."
Maybe not training meant "stopping."
And for a swordsman who desperately wanted revenge, stopping was the same as death.
If you don't fight, you die.
That was probably what Natsuo-senpai was like.
Sabito fell into deep thought, digesting Natsuo's "theory."
Giyu kept eating, but his heart was no longer quiet.
Natsuo turned away, still expressionless, and opened his bento.
Rice balls, and a few pieces of pan fried meat.
His mouth twitched very slightly.
That nonsense theory.
It worked, right?
Still, if you thought about it, he had basically given a "lore explanation" for a game mechanic.
Not bad, honestly.
(End of Chapter)
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