Sailing at Sea: The Breath of the Day at the Start

“Then we agree that whoever it is must surpass that guy Ron and reach the pinnacle of swordsmanship! If one of us fails to reach it, the other will inherit it.”

Zoro grinned and, without hesitation, raised his fist to meet hers.

"it is good!"

……

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19. An extension of the progenitor's breathing technique, a lightning flash! (4/5)

In the mountains and forests.

Koushirou demonstrated to Ron what it meant to be a swordsman capable of cutting through iron.

With a wooden stick, he easily cleaved a boulder larger than Ron in two, leaving a perfectly smooth cut.

"This is the swordsman's strike."

Koushirou looked at Ron, smiling as always.

But the boulder behind him was slowly sliding down.

"A swordsman's strikes move at will. If he wants to strike, even a dull and fragile wooden stick can cut through hard steel; if he doesn't want to strike, even your Raikiri can't cut through a thin piece of paper."

…………

Back to the warehouse.

Ron's mind was still replaying Koushirou's words.

"Slash at will..."

The warehouse was illuminated by moonlight.

Ron stroked Rachel on his knee.

It felt like I had grasped something, but then I realized I hadn't grasped anything at all.

"I am still a long way from reaching the level of a sword master."

Ron thought to himself, "But I can feel that I am very close to the first stage of the Realm of Power."

"In today's practice, I think I touched a sliver of it. Now, what I need to do is to find that feeling again."

Ron closed his eyes.

The Sun Breathing Technique began to operate unconsciously.

This is the origin and progenitor of all breathing techniques. The Sun Breathing Method.

It helped Ron far more than he had imagined.

He just doesn't know it yet.

A night of reflection.

By the morning of the next day...

Ron slowly opened his eyes and chuckled softly:

"found it."

He slowly pulled out the Raiche.

He emanated a faint, almost imperceptible red glow.

As Raikiri's blade was drawn from its sheath.

The red aura emanating from Ron's body slowly spread from the hilt to the blade, gradually covering the entire blade.

"This is... the momentum."

Ron murmured, gazing at the red-glowing Raiche in his hand.

【Host, Ron】

Age: 9 years old.

Qi and blood value: 141.

Sun Breathing Technique Mastery: 16%

Swordsmanship: The Realm of Momentum (Beginner)

..............................

In the blink of an eye, several months passed.

Spring has passed and summer has arrived, with the sun blazing down.

The training of the disciples at the dojo became increasingly arduous.

But for those who want to become stronger, this hardship is worthwhile.

Zoro has completely transformed into a challenge maniac and a training fanatic.

Every day, he's either on his way to challenge Kuina, pulling stones under a tree, or carrying someone on his back during a long run.

Recently, it seems he's started exercising his teeth to work on his three-sword style, which allows him to hold a third sword in his mouth.

The number of times you can challenge Kuina starts three times a day, then five times a day, and then ten times a day.

Latest score: 1045:0.

Not a single win.

That day, after Zoro was defeated by Kuina in a dozen or so moves, his disciple named Umi came to Zoro's side and said with a grin:

"Now the score is 1046:0."

"Long-winded!"

A disciple nearby asked, "Zoro, why do you always challenge Kuina? Why don't you challenge Ron at least once?"

Upon hearing the name, Umi instantly shuddered.

He still vividly remembered what happened last time, even months later.

"Are you stupid?"

Zoro looked at the disciple who had spoken with an expression of utter disbelief. "Even Kuina was no match for Ron. I can't even beat Kuina now, so how could I possibly win?"

"I'm going there to take on a challenge, not to be tortured."

The disciple was rendered speechless.

"so."

Zoro got up, dusted himself off, and said with a determined look in his eyes:

"Before I challenge Ron, I must defeat Kuina once!"

…………

this day.

Kuina took out her Wado Ichimonji from the warehouse, then found Ron and challenged him to a real sword duel.

"sure."

Ron readily agreed.

After three moves.

Kuina's Wado Ichimonji was knocked away, and she was knocked to the ground.

"hateful!"

Kuina looked resentful. "Why can't I stop your attacks?!"

"Because I'm better than you."

Ron laughed, bent down to pick up her Wado Ichimonji, walked up to her and said, "You've improved a lot. If I had fought you with real swords when I first came to the dojo, you probably wouldn't have been able to withstand even one of my sword strikes."

“But you’ve only been at the dojo for a few months and you’ve already reached the realm of momentum, while I’ve been practicing swordsmanship since I was a child and I still haven’t even touched that level…”

Kuina stood up, took the Wado Ichimonji he handed her, and turned away with a somewhat dejected expression.

Watching her retreating figure, Ron had a sudden inspiration and said, "Why don't you try creating your own sword moves?"

Kuina turned her head and looked at him with a face full of confusion.

"This is just a guess of mine. Perhaps you can find the 'momentum' in the process of creating sword moves."

Ron, holding the famous sword Raikiri, looked at her earnestly.

Kuina's eyes brightened slightly. After saying "I understand" to him, she immediately jogged out of the house, seemingly to give it a try.

After she left, Ron was the only one left in the house.

"Swordsmanship, huh..."

He murmured, gazing at the scarecrow in the distance.

Then he closed his eyes, gripped the knife hilt, and took a deep breath.