As his voice faded, Su Chen's body suddenly vanished. It was just like when he dodged Shinobu Kocho's Nichirin Sword earlier; he disappeared without a trace.
However, Shinobu was no longer being careless. She moved the very instant Su Chen disappeared.
"Insect Breathing: Butterfly Dance - Frolic."
The young girl leaped high into the air, her colorful haori swaying gently. Her large, captivating eyes darted around, searching. Shinobu held her breath, staring intently. "I can't find him," she thought. She could not catch a single glimpse of Su Chen.
Boom!
Su Chen appeared exactly where she had been standing just moments before. The Nichirin Sword in his hand was held perfectly straight.
Shinobu was secretly alarmed. If Su Chen had attacked her with that speed just now, she would have died on the spot!
In that moment, Shinobu suddenly understood how Su Chen moved so fast. He was using small, high-frequency vibrations in his body to reduce the air resistance in front of him. This allowed him to move much faster than normal. His movements were just like a bee vibrating its wings. Su Chen was copying the frequency of a bee's wing beats!
It was incredibly hard to believe, but the proof was right in front of her eyes.
Shinobu once again marveled at Su Chen's talent. But at the same time, she thought about the side effects of this technique. It must demand an enormous amount of oxygen and energy. It would also cause his body temperature to rise rapidly in a short time.
Shinobu's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly.
Sure enough, she saw a mysterious, cloud-like Mark on Su Chen's neck.
"Is this the power of the Mark?" Shinobu thought, amazed again at its strength.
She didn't realize that during her moment of shock, Su Chen had already prepared his second attack.
"Bee Breathing: Sixth Form - Toxic Vortex Rotation!"
Su Chen rapidly sliced his Nichirin Sword through the air, instantly creating three swirling pockets of wind. If this technique was used with poison, the poison would cover a very large area. It would be very difficult for an opponent to avoid. But Su Chen wasn't using poison right now, so he could only use the high-frequency rotation to distract his enemy.
An upward, swirling wind blew the young girl's hair up, revealing her cute, pretty face. Shinobu's vision was blocked. She was falling and could not turn her body in mid-air. Su Chen immediately launched his final attack.
"Bee Breathing: First Form - Poison Sting!"
A strong gust of wind swept up. The air in the courtyard seemed to split in two as Su Chen moved. He charged directly in front of Shinobu.
At that exact moment, Shinobu's small feet landed on the ground. She was just about to raise her hand to counterattack!
But Su Chen activated his skill: Shadowless Hand.
The Nichirin Sword in his right hand swung out, leaving afterimages. It avoided Shinobu's own sword and, just one step ahead of her, rested on her fair neck.
The air fell into a deathly silence.
Kanzaki Aoi, who had appeared at some point, dropped the pastries she was holding with a clatter. She rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was seeing things.
The three little girls immediately shrieked with excitement.
"Ah! Lady Shinobu actually lost!"
"Brother Su Chen is so amazing!"
"Brother Su Chen must be a Hashira! Only a Hashira can defeat a Hashira!"
Kanao stood quietly to the side, her mouth wide open. She could not fully believe the scene in front of her.
Her master... lost?
She lost to Su Chen, and she lost to Su Chen's self-created Breathing Style. Using the same kind of Nichirin Sword she always used, he defeated the Insect Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps!
It was too unbelievable. Even now, her head felt a little dizzy.
The one who felt this most deeply, however, was Shinobu Kocho herself. Su Chen's reaction speed and his ability to adapt were perfect. His self-created Breathing Style was even more amazing.
Su Chen knew his weakness was his stamina and physical fitness, so he improved the footwork she had taught him last night. He removed all the movements used to trick an opponent. Instead, he launched a quick, direct attack on a single point.
This was very similar to Thunder Breathing. But according to Su Chen, this strike could also be used with poison.
Shinobu didn't know what to say. The young man in front of her surprised her more every day. As his guide, she felt she absolutely had to protect Su Chen while he was still somewhat weak.
One day, the world of humans and demons would go through an earth-shattering change because of him.
"It seems I've lost." Shinobu returned her Nichirin Sword to its sheath. A faint smile was on her face; she didn't seem sad about losing to Su Chen.
Su Chen returned the Nichirin Sword to Kanao. "It was just a fluke," he said humbly.
"I actually think your sword was faster than last night, Mr. Su Chen," Shinobu said. She was speaking the truth. The improvement in Su Chen's performance between last night and today could only be described as rapid. If he didn't use poison, she was still no longer Su Chen's opponent.
Although Shinobu's raw strength was among the weaker Hashira, she was still a Hashira. Usually, only another Hashira could defeat her. It was not an exaggeration to say that Su Chen now had Hashira-level strength in certain areas.
Seeing that it was getting late, Shinobu and Su Chen chatted briefly. Then she told Su Chen what Kagaya Ubuyashiki had said.
Su Chen looked interested when he heard this. "Training Grounds?"
"Yes," Shinobu said with a smile. "Some of the Training Grounds are places where the Hashira usually train. I met with Oyakata-sama today, and he asked me to take you there."
"Please don't disappoint Oyakata-sama's high hopes for you, Mr. Su Chen."
Su Chen lowered his head in thought. The Training Grounds Shinobu mentioned must be the special training areas for each Hashira, right?
For example, the Sound Hashira's physical fitness training. The Mist Hashira's high-speed movement training. The Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji's, body flexibility training. And the Serpent Hashira, Obanai Iguro's, sword-swinging posture training, and so on.
These were the proud specialties or ultimate techniques of each Hashira. Unfortunately, most other Slayers couldn't learn or achieve them.
What Su Chen lacked most right now was physical fitness training. Although his understanding was very high, his physical strength hadn't caught up yet. Some training was still very necessary.
If he could watch the other Hashira train, wouldn't he be able to learn all of their techniques? By then, if he combined the strengths of all those styles, Su Chen himself didn't know what kind of Breathing Style he could create.
The thought alone was incredibly exciting.
Seeing Su Chen remain silent, Shinobu waved her fair little hand in front of him. "Moshi moshi? Mr. Su Chen, are you listening?"
Su Chen snapped back to attention and smiled. "Of course."
Shinobu patted her chest, smiling like a flower. "Oh my, I thought you were going to refuse me."
"Alright, then I refuse," Su Chen nodded.
Shinobu's small fist immediately flew toward him, but Su Chen dodged it. He was just kidding. Su Chen's reaction speed was now faster than Shinobu's; she couldn't possibly touch him.
A little tick mark seemed to appear on Shinobu's smooth forehead.