Stone Breathing

Loitering in front of a giant stone looking fortress, I step forward toward the entry to Gyomei's compound. Hung on the door, I see a small note.

"Push with all your might!"

Reading the note one more time, I swallow heavily before looking up at the door that easily dwarfs me. Placing both my palms upon the door, I use the burst power and volatility of Wind Breathing to try and push the door open.

Having my feet skid through the dirt as I continue to press upon, I hear a small crack before the door separates just a tiny bit. Taking the chance I had, I reposition my footing and push one more time. Pushing the door open just enough for me to slip through, I enter Gyomei's compound.

Standing upon his own porch, Gyomei stares to the heavens while his hands are connected in prayer.

"Oh heavens, I thank you for sending me a student worthy to learn my ways. And I am glad that I do not have to extinguish another life for not reaching my expectations."

Lowering his arms with his beads clacking against one another wildly, he opens his dead eyes and stares at me.

"Follow me." Gyomei states curtly while turning his hulking body and walking around his building.

First approaching a pedestal, Gyomei grips the ends of a replica of an axe and flail, glaringly like his own weapon.

"You will learn these weapons before I teach you. I expect excise control, please don't disappoint." Handing me the weapon, Gyomei continues. "I will not show you how to wield this weapon. I want you to learn it on your own. Allowing for you to grow better as a demon slayer."

Gripping the chain that connects the axe to the flail, I spread my senses along it, but find I can encapsulate even less than a normal katana. Finding that the holes in the chain were the main cause of the problem, I decided to begin on an easier step.

Gripping the handle of the axe and the nub of the flail, I feel my connection to the weapon drastically increase. Commencing basic movements with these two weapons in hand, I find myself constantly tripping over the chain as well as losing grip of the flail. Having the constant glare of Gyomei on my back, my face starts to burn red in embarrassment.

Ending the day after training both the flail and axe for the entirety, I find myself constantly berating myself over the fact that I couldn't even comprehend the basics over the flail and axe. In my bed, I rub my head in frustration as I constantly go over what I could do different or how I could improve.

My inner thoughts are however broken by my door cracking open. Looking up, my eyes connect with that of Kanao. Knowing that I've spotted her, Kanao seems to debate whether to enter or whether to just run away. However, the enter side seems to have won as she soon sits down next to me.

"Can I do something for you Kanao?" I ask with my frustration accidentally leaking into my voice.

Luckily though, Kanao doesn't seem to notice or care. "Learned second form."

Remembering the fact that Kanao was currently learning Flower Breathing, I congratulate her while patting her head.

"Does that mean you followed Kanae's instructions to the point?"

Receiving a shake of the head from her, I tilt my head in slightly in confusion.

"Mama told me that it belongs to me and that I learn in the way I need to." Kanao answers.

"So, in other words, you're wielding your katana and breathing differently in order to execute the forms?"

Kanao nods her head. Going back to thinking, it clicks in my mind the lesson that Gyomei wishes to teach me.

My main objective is to find the best way that the axe and flail fits me, meaning I should be constantly experimenting with the axe and flail rather than playing it safe and not challenging myself.

Having realized this because of Kanao, I quickly pull her into a tight hug. Releasing her while sporting a large smile, Kanao's face glows red before she quickly escapes from my room.

Returning the next day, I find the door once again closed on me and push it forward exactly as I had before. Ignoring the blind stare of Gyomei while I wield the axe and flail, I begun to experiment.

While training I realized that the weight and distance of the weapon had to be constantly monitored to manipulate it correctly. If the chain was pulled to slowly to bring the axe back, then its speed would heavily reduce and would plant itself in the ground. If pulled too quick though, it has a more likely chance of missing its intended target.

Knowing that this weapon could only be used with equal training between the two ends, I forced myself to train the axe and flail together, even if I felt it would be easier to wield one side of the weapon before moving to the next.

The entire day, as a part of my experiments, were to find the weight distribution of the weapon no matter where my hands were placed on the chain. The actual training of the weapon though was more like watching as a child throws a toy recklessly into the air.

Having felt like I made some sort of achievement as the day ends, I spot Gyomei praying while sporting a small smile.

Upon reaching my third day of training under Gyomei, the second half of the day was instead replaced with an improved version of Rengoku's workout schedule. However, improvement in this case only applies to the fact that Gyomei had made it ten times as hard. This included the fact that I would run with a larger bolder, have a heavier demon slayer uniform, and the actual version of muscle reinforcement since in the case of training others, Gyomei would handle muscle reinforcement specifically.

Drenched in sweat and worn beyond belief by the end of the training session, a resounding slap is heard. Rocketing forward, I tumble across the barren ground. Coughing out hysterically, the burning feeling of a slap on my skin is clearly felt.

Looking to where I was previously standing, I see Gyomei down in a martial art pose, arm outstretched with his palm facing outwards.

"Oh heavens, please forgive me for my sins, but I will continue to teach this boy and I hope you will grace me in this endeavor."

Spotting the tears that flow from his eyes, Gyomei quickly travels from his spot, appearing just in front of me as he slaps the middle of my chest. Feeling myself close to coughing blood, I shakily stand up and remove the top half of my Demon Slayer uniform.

Seeing a bright red handprint embedded on my skin, I look up to find that Gyomei was now to my side. The series of Gyomei slapping me continued until my entire body was littered with handprints.

Thankfully though, Gyomei did not layer the handprints over one another, leading to my injuries not worsening.

"It's important for a Hashira to have skin as tough as iron, so I will force your body to become stronger."

As if that was the reasoning behind the slaps, I am stretchered back to the Butterfly Palace by a few Kakushi. Returning with bruises that had quickly healed overnight, the personality of Gyomei seemed to worsen even further.

Distancing from me even further than he already had during my trainings, I could feel that Gyomei had very little trust in me. His faith was sky high in what I could do, but his personal trust towards my figure was nonexistent. Knowing that such was caused by my abnormal healing rate added with the results from the other Hashiras, his distrust was understandable, but it made me a little sad.

Continuing with my experiments to find the correct balance between the axe and the flail, I finally gained enough mastery over the weapon itself after an entire month of training. In this entire month, the distrust of Gyomei only lessened slightly, but I could tell that he greatly appreciated the speed of my growth.

To show his appreciation, Gyomei told me the meaning behind Stone Breathing as well as the how to achieve.

"Stone Breathing is a combat breathing form style that will allow you to mimic the sturdiness and fortification of the solidity that surrounds earth and stone. All the forms utilize the ground beneath you and the vast surroundings to generate powerful attacks that specialize in both offense and defense. When you use this form properly, you should be able to visualize yourself manipulating and generating earth that is brown or grey in color, causing cracks in the earth to seemingly emanate from your weapon."

Continuing, Gyomei states, "The best way that I can think of to earn Stone Breathing would be to continue the training that you've already been doing. By maintaining your will and continuing even though it hurts, you shall eventually earn Stone Breathing. I cannot offer any other information on how to achieve it. You simply must wait before your body has decided to offer you such a breathing form."

Even if the key to Stone Breathing was that I had to wait, I was pleased with the fact that my training wouldn't get very much harder until then. Keeping my attention solely focused on Stone Breathing, my progress continued for the next month.

By far, Stone Breathing took the longest to achieve, breaking the record of training from when I trained under Rengoku by a long shot. Believing that it was because I had obtained the proper will to withstand never-ending force even in times of that force changing in intensity, Gyomei finally decided to teach me his forms.

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The Stone Breathing forms are:

1st form – Serpentine Bipolar – The user throws both the flail and axe towards the intended target and manipulates the chain by rotating it thus causing the axe and flail to also rotate in order to drill and grind right through the target.

2nd form – Upper Smash – The user throws both their axe and spiked flail for a pincer move before smashing down on the chain to cause the flail to the rebound and smash their target from afar.

3rd from – Stone Skin – The user unleashes a series of slashes with their axe deflecting nearby attacks.

4th form – Volcanic Rock-Rapid Conquest – The user manipulates both the flail and axe weapons at both ends of the chain by swinging the chain on both sides to strike the opponent using two pronged wide ranged attacks.

5th form – Arcs of Justice – The user utilizes a powerful barrage with their flail and axe, doing a great amount of damage. The axe is destined to hit first with the trajectory of the flail following from the opposite side and slamming into the opponent.

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With the mastery of the flail and axe having improved in the one month after learning the keys to Stone Breathing, the work to start my path of learning the Stone Breathing forms began.

In this last month, Gyomei's trust in me had steadily increased. Even if he wanted to question the reasoning behind my abnormal bodily regeneration, Gyomei now viewed me as a full-on disciple. His demeanor to me changed drastically and he stepped in on his own tuition to fix any sort of mistakes that I make. The insight of the strongest Hashira is not to underestimated as I both increased my overall power output and mastery of his weapon.

Within a week of training the ways of Stone Breathing, I could feel I was on the brink of moving on. Receiving a show of the techniques by Gyomei himself, the next two weeks were spent to master Stone Breathing.

"I bless the heavens for granting me such a student. And I thank you Shiro for withstanding my training and becoming a successor to my breathing form. I am more than blessed in this lifetime."

Watching as the tears streamed from Gyomei's face as he thanked me, I proceeded to do the exact same for him, minus the tears.

As a parting gift and to state that I had completed the training of the Hashiras, Gyomei handed me a mask. As his own personal parting gift however, Gyomei handed me the weights that I had trained with.

Returning to the Butterfly Mansion, I reminisce.

In the last fourteen months, I had learned every breathing form and got a firm handhold on them. I knew that I needed to grow further than what I was already at, so the time I spend in the future will be used to attain deeper understanding and to obtain the newfound feeling that there was something new to learn.

"I think I'll continue my training for the next year. When I am introduced to the Demon Community, I want to be able to single handedly take care of an Upper Moon." I explain to Kanae who asked me about my future. "Upon reaching the age of nine and the date for the Demon Slayer Final Selection, I will then fight to protect humans and kill Demons."

Once again pulling me into her motherly hug, Kanae warmly states, "Just make sure not to work yourself too hard. You have a life, and you deserve to live it."

Letting myself fall to the motherly affection, I graciously spend time with the residents of the Butterfly Mansion.