Nature Physique
'Strong!' Ryou quickly blocked the blow with the wooden sword and the force of it pushed him backward while his heels dug slightly into the ground.
With a strong thrust forward, he threw Kanae back where she started before dashing forward with a powerful sword swing.
His physique strengthened with natural energy, showed an innate advantage while Kanae's forced to use the Total concentration breathing technique to parry the clash.
'What an envious physique. He's naturally strong.' Kanae thought.
As she began to use her breathing technique, her strength enhanced to a superhuman level. Their clash produced a slight shockwave stirring up wind and dirt.
Though it's just a wooden sword, Ryou know if he's careless he would take quite a heavy blow.
"Wow! What a power! Yahh! Nee-san beat him up! Show him the strength of Hashira!" Shinobu cheered from the sideline.
"He's strong! I thought he escaped from Upper Moon Demon because of luck!" Aoi commented while Kanao watched in silence.
Kanae drove her way through by performing all the standard Flower Breathing forms while Ryou showed the extraordinariness of the Natural Breathing forms.
Tenth Form: Flower View!
At some point, Kanae's breathing suddenly changed she disappeared for a moment before appearing in front of Ryou, delivering a two-hand vertical slash.
'Bad!' Ryou hurriedly resisted the attack with his wooden sword, but the power behind the blow shattered the wooden sword and came at his chest.
'Tekkai.' At the last moment, he hardened his muscles with Tekkai.
Bang! Kanae's wooden sword smashed against his chest, forcing him to take a few steps back while coughing a mouthful of blood.
'Strong!' Unlike Shinobu, Kanae's innately strong. The strength of Hashira is no joke. 'I need to upgrade my Natural Breathing to the 'Intermediate' level to fight her on equal footing.'
Ara...Ara...I'm sorry. Are you okay, did I hurt you severely?" Kanae asked, but there wasn't a shred of care in her voice.
"You are ruthless, woman. I give you that!" Ryou uttered, stroking his chest. He thought mentally, 'Once my strength surpasses you, I will show you who I am.'
"Ryou-san, are you okay?" Shinobu came forward and asked.
"I'm fine, Shinobu. You are a kind soul, unlike your sister!" Ryou taunted.
"My. My. I know you can block the strike. It's the same as the time with the Upper Moon. How did you do it?" Kanae asked, curious.
Ryou know what she's asking, he responded. "It's a skill called Tekkai. By hardening the muscles, you can withstand and effectively nullify any damage.
If practiced to a high level, one's muscles can reach the level of iron. Even against sword attacks, you block them with bare hands!"
"What?" Kanae was shocked, upon hearing the explanation. She asked abruptly without thinking, "Can you teach me?'
But Kanae soon came back to her senses, 'How can I ask him to teach such a precious skill? 'It should be some kind of secret skill passed down the family.'
Noticing Ryou's silence, Kanae thought she was making it difficult for Ryou to decide. She quickly said. 'I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked.'
In truth, Ryou's communicating inside his mind, "System, can I teach her?"
"Can"
"I can teach you the skill, but you can't reveal it to others. It's not that I am being selfish—once such skill spread to Demons you can think of the consequence." Ryou expressed his thoughts.
"I understand!" Kanae nodded. "I promise you, I won't tell the second soul without your permission.
Shinobu, Aoi, Kanao, you too. You shouldn't tell anyone about this."
"Ok, Nee-san. We will take our leave." Shinobu responded seriously and left with Aoi and Kanao.
"No need to be so serious." Ryou waved his hand and began to teach her the principles of Tekkai.
"Practise well. With your talent, you can reach the basic level in a short span."
"Thank you. With this, I can fight the demons more bravely." Kanae showed a grateful look.
---
Inside the small room allocated to Ryou,
"System, equip the Sharingan!" Ryou thought in his mind.
As soon as he said, a warm feeling flooded his eyes followed by a slight bearable pain. After a second, his eyesight became clear with more sharpness and clarity. The world looked vibrant.
With a small face mirror, he looked at his eyes. The color of his iris turned red bearing three tomoe connected by a circle.
"What a nice pair of eyes. Beautiful!" Ryou thought. 'No wonder the Uchiha people turn handsome after awakening the Sharingan.'
Playing with the Sharingan for a bit, he closed them. 'Since I don't have chakra, Sharingan consumes physical power. With my current strength, I have to use them sparingly.'
"System, show me the status panel!"
[~ Name: Ryou
Race: Ordinary Human
Skill: Nature Breathing - Basic [5/10], Tekkai - Intermediate [1/10], Three-Tomoe Sharingan[Not upgradeable]
Demon Points: 2 ~]
Looking at the status panel for a moment, Ryou got the idea. 'System, can you add the level of my Physique in the panel?'
"Yes, Host"
[~ Name: Ryou
Physique: Nature [Entry - 50%]
Skill: Nature Breathing - Basic [5/10], Tekkai - Intermediate [1/10], Sharingan[Not upgradeable]
Demon Points: 2 ~]
"System, can you explain about the Physique tab you added?" Ryou asked, seeing the word Nature and the percentage beside it.
"By practicing Natural Breathing and absorbing Natural energy for a long period of time, you will awaken a Nature physique.
It's divided into Entry, Intermediate, Advanced and Supreme. At the Entry level — your physique will transform into a perfect state with an increase in the Life force.
At the Intermediate level — your strength will be enhanced to a Superhuman level with an accelerated healing factor.
At the Advanced level — your physique will attain the state 'One with Nature'. By reaching this level, you can enter the Nature mode, akin to the sage mode in Naruto.
As for the Supreme level, your strength is too low to know about them."
"Can't I upgrade it with Demon points?"
"No"
"If I upgrade my Nature Breathing to perfection, will it advance my physique?" Ryou asked again.
"No. But it can shorten the practice time to advance the physique."