"Master, where is Senior Disciple Danryu?"
"I've been trying to use Total Concentration Breathing lately, but I'm not proficient yet. I need to ask Senior Disciple for guidance."
"You need to teach the other junior disciples, so I won't bother you."
The one speaking was a lovely young girl with medium-length ink-green hair. Her hair fell smoothly over her shoulders, and a white flower hairpin was tucked into the left side of her hair. She stood there looking quite lively.
Her name was Makomo, and she was fourteen years old.
Makomo had deep blue eyes, fair skin, and a small physique. She looked to be less than 1.6 meters tall, but her legs were surprisingly long and straight, taking up a significant proportion of her height.
Since it was summer, she wore a thin pink kimono with a white sash tied around her waist, forming a white bow at the back. Her sleeves only reached her elbows, exposing her fair, slender arms.
Standing beside Makomo was a man wearing a Tengu Mask, Sakonji Urokodaki.
His half-white hair looked a little aged, and his mask was somewhat fierce. He stood up straight, appearing unapproachable and difficult to talk to.
Sakonji Urokodaki wore a loose robe with a light blue base color embroidered with wave and cloud patterns. His voice was very serious.
"He's at the summit."
"Makomo, you can learn Breathing Technique from him, but don't take his unorthodox methods seriously."
"Go ahead. Remember, don't get lost in his power. That's his path; no one else can follow it."
"Anyone who tries to learn from him will die."
He had been able to speak calmly with a composed expression, but when he thought of that disobedent disciple, Sakonji Urokodaki became increasingly angry the more he spoke.
Why wouldn't he take the proper path and instead mess around with unorthodox methods, even thinking of trying to integrate other Breathing Technique styles... If it were really that easy, others would have tried it long ago. Would it even be his turn?
Makomo stuck out her tongue and comforted him, "Master, don't be angry. Senior Disciple is very strong; he will definitely bring you honor."
"Hmph, disobedient disciple! He has talent, but he's just not diligent!"
Sakonji Urokodaki let out another angry cold snort. He flicked his hand and walked away without looking back, going to teach the newly admitted disciples.
Shrugging her shoulders to show helplessness, Makomo went up the mountain, tiptoeing and skipping.
It was noon, and a huge orange-yellow fireball hung high in the sky, radiating endless light and heat.
In the summer on Mount Sagiri, the hot, dazzling sunlight filtered through the layers of leaves, casting irregular patches of light on the ground. The air humidity on Mount Sagiri was much higher than elsewhere, and various plants grew extremely dense and lush. Green vines wrapped around thick tree trunks, and tree roots subtly emerged from the ground like human meridians.
The foot of Mount Sagiri was where Makomo and Sakonji Urokodaki were currently located, while the Senior Disciple stayed at the summit, which was his favorite and most frequent place to be.
Bathed in sunlight, Makomo's small body ran quickly along the rocky mountain path. Or, on a whim, she would leap onto branches and jump. Despite her young age, her movements were more agile than the monkeys in the mountains.
Throughout the process, her breathing was extremely rhythmic, steady, long, and deep.
Soon, she ran from the foot to the middle of the mountain. A hazy mist appeared before Makomo's eyes, and the path beneath her feet became somewhat indistinct.
However, she was very familiar with this place. She navigated several turns and found a small path that led directly to the summit. It looked like this path had been created by someone walking on it repeatedly.
"Senior Disciple walks up the mountain every morning and has even made a path. He's amazing."
Mount Sagiri wasn't low, but Makomo was also very fast.
About half an hour later, Makomo reached the summit.
Mount Sagiri, from the middle of the mountain upwards, is perennially covered in a hazy mist. Even in the summer with bright sunshine, the mist is present and is tinged with a golden hue by the sunlight, resembling clouds mixed with scattered gold, beautiful and enchanting.
However, upon reaching the summit, all the mist disappears, and the view opens up dramatically. The sun shines with a breathtaking brilliance.
The summit area is relatively flat overall, with a cracked brown rocky ground beneath the feet and no weeds whatsoever.
Around the area, there are many stone balls and stone blocks. Each is quite large, at least half a ton, but most are cracked. They are covered with deep fist prints, palm prints, finger holes, and so on, and the surroundings are full of crisscrossing cracks.
In the center of this area, there was a young man with his upper body bare.
He was doing a handstand in mid-air, with no support behind him.
At this moment, his left hand was behind his back, and his right middle and index fingers were together, supporting his body as he moved up and down, doing one-handed two-finger push-ups while inverted.
He had done an unknown number, but he still seemed to be doing it with ease.
His arm muscles rippled rhythmically with his body's movements, a sight that made one's eyes burn with admiration.
His blue and white haori jacket was casually tossed on the ground, and he didn't care about the dust on the ground.
Makomo hopped over like a little rabbit, squatted down beside him, and poked the young man's chest with her finger.
So hard, like a rock, completely unyielding.
And... bigger than her own.
Makomo quickly lowered her head and secretly glanced at herself, her small face slightly dejected.
She wondered if Senior Disciple had some secret, otherwise, how could he have such exaggerated pectoral muscles?
She looked up and spoke, "Senior Disciple Danryu, how are your chest muscles..."
Before she could finish speaking, the straight arm bent and then straightened with force. The young man agilely flipped his body, stood up, picked up the clothes from the ground, dusted them off, and put them on.
Makomo also straightened her body and then let out a cry of pain.
It turned out the young man had bent his finger and flicked Makomo's forehead with lightning speed.
"No manners! Don't touch indiscriminately. Also, you should call me Senior Disciple Kurozawa."
Kurozawa Danryu, Sakonji Urokodaki's first disciple.
He was a rare sight in this world with his black hair and black eyes, a hair and eye color as dark as ink.
The most unique feature of the young man's face was his deep-set eyes, like a fathomless abyss that could easily drown someone within.
His features weren't delicate; rather, they were like a sculpture carved by knives and axes, with deep, three-dimensional contours and sharp, defined angles.
He possessed a radiant and handsome appearance, like the bright sun, making people feel dazzled when looking directly at him, instinctively averting their gaze, yet unable to resist turning back for a secret peek.
With sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, he was dashing and elegant.
(You can imagine muscular characters like Sett, Dio, Ohma, Jotaro, etc. Feel free to comment and add more, fellow readers.) And beneath his handsome face was a tall, agile physique, with clusters of steel-forged muscles embedded and hidden beneath his skin. They weren't obvious normally, but when exerting force, they instantly bulged, taut as silk, approaching perfect proportion with his body.
Makomo near him appeared even more petite and delicate. From a distance, she looked exactly like a little girl standing next to an adult.
Unable to dodge and having been struck on the head, Makomo covered her reddened forehead but still insisted firmly, "I just want to call you Danryu!"
The background of this world was similar to Japan during the Taisho era. Kurozawa Danryu, Kurozawa was the surname, and Danryu was the given name. So, calling him Danryu felt more intimate to Makomo.
It just felt strange to Kurozawa to be called Danryu. He never expected he would one day be called Senior Disciple Danryu.
But since no one in this world knew what Senior Disciple Danryu meant, it probably didn't matter.
He didn't feel like he was specifically targeting anyone.
No breaking up couples, the female lead is the Demon King.
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