"Um... I think I've managed to knead chakra..." Muichiro Tokito murmured softly.
Unexpectedly, after giving out the "chakra seeds," the first one to successfully knead it was Muichiro. Even Tanjiro hadn't managed it. The Mist Hashira, Muichiro Tokito, was a descendant of Kokushibo, the user of the original Moon Breathing. He was a genius who became a Hashira only two months after first picking up a sword. And Kokushibo was the twin brother of the Sun Breathing user, who, unable to resist the lure of longevity and overcome by jealousy, willingly degenerated into a demon, leaving behind descendants before he transformed. However, due to his lost memories, Muichiro lacked emotion and was cold towards others. But it wasn't truly a lack of emotion; he just didn't know how to care for others. To put it bluntly, in modern terms, he was a withdrawn kid, a stoic type. If it weren't for a talkative, cute, and proactive person frequently seeking him out, this kind of bottled-up individual would probably have remained a bachelor for life.
"Let me see. Try to circulate it, extract a thread of chakra," Uchiha Nagi said, rising and placing a hand on Muichiro's shoulder.
"Okay~" Muichiro immediately closed his eyes and began to knead chakra according to the method Uchiha Nagi had previously described. A thread of energy, completely different from Breathing Styles, began to appear in his body. Uchiha Nagi sensed it keenly. "That's right, it's definitely chakra. You truly are a genius..." Uchiha Nagi's eyes widened in disbelief. Just one day, from zero understanding to successfully kneading chakra. Such genius truly existed...
"Ah, so I succeeded?" Muichiro asked blankly.
"Yes, you succeeded. Come outside, I'll explain the Three Basic Jutsu to you. See if you can perform them," Uchiha Nagi said, walking out into the courtyard and demonstrating the ninja academy's three basic techniques. The Three Basic Jutsu were fundamental ninjutsu, techniques that even the lowest-ranking academy students could use. They were easy to learn and consumed little chakra, but mastering them could be life-saving. After explaining them to Muichiro for a while, Uchiha Nagi formed the hand seals and performed them once, then had Muichiro try.
"Then I'll try~" Muichiro said softly, closing his eyes and thinking for a moment...
Poof~ Transformation Jutsu, complete—
Poof~ Clone Jutsu, complete.
Poof~ Substitution Jutsu, complete. Since he wasn't carrying a substitution log, what was left in his place was his Nichirin blade.
Uchiha Nagi: "........" Shinobu Kocho covered her mouth and chuckled lightly. "Although Muichiro-san is young, he's a genius who became a Hashira the fastest, taking only two months from joining the Demon Slayer Corps."
This time, Uchiha Nagi directly taught him the Shadow Clone Jutsu. Muichiro listened for a while, then tried it. This time, he finally didn't succeed... "It's alright, you'll learn it with a few more days of practice~" Uchiha Nagi said with an upward quirk of his lips, smiling.
"Oh, okay. By the way, Oyakata-sama asked me to teach you Mist Breathing. Do you want to learn it?" Muichiro asked, scratching his head. This silly kid, does he even need to ask?
"Yes, please demonstrate it, Muichiro-san~" "Oh~" Muichiro was a man of few words, yet a genius of such caliber— He began to swing his Nichirin blade, unleashing Mist Breathing:
[Mist Breathing, First Form: Low Clouds, Distant Haze] [Mist Breathing, Second Form: Eight-Layered Mist] [Mist Breathing, Third Form: Scattering Mist Splash] [Mist Breathing, Fourth Form: Shifting Flow Slash] [Mist Breathing, Fifth Form: Sea of Clouds and Haze] [Mist Breathing, Sixth Form: Lunar Dispersing Mist]
As Muichiro demonstrated, Shinobu noticed Uchiha Nagi's eyes had turned red, and a pattern resembling a pinwheel had appeared in his pupils. She was shocked. Could human pupils really change their appearance? If it weren't daytime, Shinobu would have suspected he was a spy sent by Muzan. She had never heard of human pupils changing back and forth. The Mangekyo Sharingan was now active in Uchiha Nagi's eyes. Every one of Muichiro's movements, every breath, was perfectly copied and stored in his mind. Correspondingly, his Mangekyo's dojutsu power was constantly being consumed. Uchiha Nagi realized that the more powerful the technique, the more dojutsu power its replication consumed. When Muichiro used his final form, the dojutsu power consumed for copying was clearly several times greater than for the preceding forms. Fortunately, he had White Zetsu cells, so his dojutsu power could recover... Unfortunately, at this time, Muichiro had not yet created the final form of Mist Breathing, [Mist Breathing, Seventh Form: Obscuring Clouds]. Otherwise, he would have perfectly acquired the entire breathing style. But there was no rush; there was plenty of time.
"Well, Mist Breathing is basically like this. Uchiha Nagi-san, have you learned it all?" Muichiro asked, scratching his head with an air of taking it for granted.
"Muichiro-san, do you think everyone is like you, able to learn it just by seeing it once? Heehee~" Shinobu covered her mouth and giggled.
Uchiha Nagi nodded. "Yes, I've learned it..."
Shinobu: "......" Isn't this turnaround a bit too fast? But looking at the two of them with their matter-of-fact expressions, Shinobu covered her forehead. Am I too much of a failure, or are these two too much like geniuses?
Uchiha Nagi, mimicking Muichiro Tokito, performed Mist Breathing, flawlessly demonstrating it from beginning to end. Shinobu was so stunned her jaw nearly dropped.
"Uchiha Nagi-san, you're even more of a genius than I am! To learn it just by seeing it once... In comparison, I'm truly terrible. Sigh~" Muichiro sighed dejectedly. If it weren't for protagonist plot armor, Muichiro would absolutely be the protagonist of this world, a genius far surpassing Tanjiro, and the one most likely to eliminate Muzan, given enough time to grow.You are a true genius, while I am a genius by cheating...
"However, Uchiha Nagi-san, the Mist Breathing you perform... I still feel there's something a bit off about it. It seems to have the form, but not much power," Muichiro said, touching his chin and staring blankly at the white clouds.
"Yes, I've only copied it. After some time, once I've thoroughly assimilated it, I believe it will be much better," Uchiha Nagi said with a sigh. Breathing Styles weren't just about breathing; they were integrated with sword techniques, not as singular as ninjutsu. And sword techniques were a mysterious thing; the same technique wielded by different people would have different power. So far, the breathing style Uchiha Nagi used most proficiently was Tanjiro's Water Breathing. After all, a person's daily training time was limited; it was impossible to attend to everything.
"Then I'll take my leave first. I'll come back to ask for your guidance after I've learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu tomorrow," Muichiro said with a bow, then politely departed. If it weren't for his stoic personality, he would be a very likable child.
"Oh my, Uchiha-san, you're truly amazing, learning Mist Breathing just by seeing it once. I wonder if you can learn all the Hashiras' breathing styles?" Shinobu asked curiously.
"Learning all the breathing styles isn't the difficult part. The difficulty lies in deducing the breathing style most suitable for oneself from them."