For the next few days, Uchiha Nagi enjoyed a rare period of leisure. There were no life-or-death crises, and certainly no persecution from the Konoha higher-ups. Here, Kagaya Ubuyashiki treated the Demon Slayer Corps members exceptionally well. Due to his own physical condition, he couldn't even swing a sword ten times. So, what he could do was provide the Demon Slayer Corps members with the best possible treatment. To eliminate more of Muzan's subordinates, he never kept any Demon Slayer members to protect himself.
During Uchiha Nagi's "vacation," Kagaya Ubuyashiki had someone deliver scrolls for all the Breathing Styles as a token of gratitude for his medical ninjutsu, even though, apart from Muichiro, no one else had yet managed to knead chakra. Of course, Uchiha Nagi knew that these Breathing Style scrolls weren't entirely complete. This generation of Hashira were the most outstanding, and they had each invented new forms. Simply reading the scrolls wouldn't necessarily allow one to learn the final forms. Uchiha Nagi also gifted Oyakata-sama the method for creating explosive tags. Kagaya Ubuyashiki regarded this with extreme importance, stating he would do his utmost to find a way to replicate them. However, due to differences in materials between the worlds, it was unknown when they might succeed, and creating explosive tags also required chakra.
"Maintain the Breathing Style at all times? Including while sleeping?" Uchiha Nagi asked curiously.
"Mm-hmm~ Basically all the Hashira can do it. Maintaining the Breathing Style constantly allows one to grow stronger day by day. Eventually, the physical body will strengthen over time to a level where it can contend with demons," Shinobu Kocho said with a radiant smile.
"I will try my best," Uchiha Nagi replied.
"Good luck, Uchiha Nagi-kun! Don't lose to those three," Shinobu encouraged, gently squeezing Uchiha Nagi's hand.
Uchiha Nagi: "........" If he hadn't seen her being just as gentle with the three youngsters, he'd suspect she was interested in him.
"Oooh, gotta train hard today too! I'm gonna breathe! Maintain the Breathing Style whether I'm sleeping or awake!" "Bastard, Blondie, don't get cocky! I'll definitely do it before you guys!" The three youngsters, having their hands gently squeezed by Shinobu in encouragement, were adolescent boys who had never experienced such attention from a mature beauty. They reacted as if they'd been fed an aphrodisiac, becoming incredibly energetic and starting to train like madmen with loud yells.
"Uchiha Nagi-san, your Nichirin blade and uniform have arrived." One day, Shinobu's Tsuguko, Kanao Tsuyuri, came to inform him. The Demon Slayer Corps uniforms were custom-made, offering strong protection—cut-resistant, fire-resistant, warm in winter, and cool in summer. As for the Nichirin blades, each member received one. Blades for Hashira-level members were highly valued and specially crafted by the swordsmiths of the Swordsmith Village.
"Ah, Inosuke, our swords are here!" Tanjiro excitedly found him. "Really? Aaaoooh, the swords are here, the swords are here~" Inosuke also jumped up happily, as his swords had also been broken. Uchiha Nagi, along with Inosuke and Tanjiro, awaited the arrival of the people from the Swordsmith Village.
"Tanjiro, you bastard! You actually broke my sword~" From a distance, before a man wearing a mask even arrived, he was already murderously brandishing a sword and chasing Tanjiro. "Aaah, I'm sorry, Haganezuka-san! I didn't do it on purpose! And the demon was really strong~" "Bastard! It's your fault for breaking the sword~" Uchiha Nagi then witnessed a scene of one person chasing and another fleeing. Of course, the other party was just overly attached to his swords and venting his emotions; he wouldn't actually try to kill Tanjiro.
————
"Quick, try it out! What color is the sword?" Hotaru Haganezuka looked at Inosuke and Uchiha Nagi with an expectant face. Before being used, Nichirin blades were all colorless. But once a Demon Slayer Corps member began to use one, the energy from their Breathing Style conducted into it would cause the color to change. Tanjiro's was black, which mystified Haganezuka. Water Breathing shouldn't result in a black blade, logically speaking.
"Oh oh, dark blue, huh." Haganezuka looked at Inosuke's sword with some disappointment. "Ah, it's your turn. Hurry up and let me see what color yours is." Everyone looked at Uchiha Nagi with anticipation. Uchiha Nagi slowly picked up the Nichirin blade, its surface so smooth it reflected his face. Then, he slowly channeled his own chakra into it. Whether it was the energy of a Breathing Style or chakra, they were essentially the same; the Nichirin blade would only change color based on the individual's attributes.
"Oooh, a flame-like color! Flame Breathing~" Haganezuka was overjoyed. The color of a Nichirin blade represented its attribute. [It seems my affinity is predominantly fire. But that's typical for the Uchiha clan.] Uchiha Nagi wasn't too surprised by this result. The Uchiha clan had always leaned towards the fire attribute, though other attributes could be developed later. So, Uchiha Nagi wasn't overly concerned.
Clang—Clang— Sometime later, the little boar Inosuke was already in the courtyard, wildly banging his Nichirin blade with a rock. He liked to create serrated edges on his swords...
"Bastard! How dare you treat my sword like that?! I'm going to kill you—" The swordsmith who had come with Haganezuka saw Inosuke abusing the blade like this and was instantly consumed by rage, feeling like he could kill him...
At night, Uchiha Nagi was in his room, Mangekyo Sharingan activated, looking into a mirror to begin hypnotizing himself. Maintaining a Breathing Style at all times was something an ordinary person simply couldn't do. In his previous life, he had encountered yoga, which also emphasized breathing techniques. However, a person could only maintain the breathing method when they remembered to; once forgotten, they would revert to their normal breathing pattern. Uchiha Nagi was self-aware enough to know he wasn't a genius, much less a child of destiny, so he could only rely on "cheating" to remind himself. Using the Mangekyo's hypnosis to ensure his subconscious didn't forget to maintain the Breathing Style was an incredibly difficult task because one could deceive others, but not oneself. However, Uchiha Nagi was using the Mangekyo's hypnosis as an alarm clock. Once he reminded himself about the Breathing Style, it would trigger the memory, thereby gradually getting used to maintaining it 24 hours a day.
After doing this, Uchiha Nagi jumped onto the rooftop and began to meditate. After a short while, feeling a bit bored, he took out his musical instrument and started playing a tune. "Which one should I play? Let's go with that snowfield one~" Uchiha Nagi began to play a purely instrumental BGM from Naruto, an anime from his previous life. He had forgotten its name. It was an instrumental piece from Naruto with a snowfield backdrop, as lonely as a solitary person walking through the snow. Under the starry night sky, the beautiful melody drifted over the Butterfly Mansion, heard by many.
A petite, graceful figure landed silently behind Uchiha Nagi. Because there was no killing intent, Uchiha Nagi only realized someone was approaching when he smelled a feminine fragrance. He was suddenly startled, like someone suddenly scaring you from behind, especially sensitive for a ninja. Uchiha Nagi subconsciously turned his head, and as a result, his lips unintentionally brushed against two equally warm, soft lips. Pearlescent white teeth lightly bit into those soft lips, and a delicate cry was heard— "Ah—" Hiss... that hurts.