Chapter 99: Whose Poison?
What Obanai Iguro sought was the lethal strike at the perfect moment—a bizarre,
unpredictable combat style that was impossible to track.
Since he had a clear direction, Natsuya's "Modding" had a solid anchor point.
He manually adjusted most of the Water Breathing nodes to a shallower, more
repressed level. This was designed to lower Obanai's presence on the battlefield
and hide his "Aggro" and attack intent. It was like a hunter accumulating
potential energy in the shadows.
Only when the "Build-up Gauge" was full would the rhythm shift into a single,
sharp, deep inhalation—releasing all that stored power into a terminal ambush.
In a way, it shared the same logic as Iaijutsu (Quick Draw).
As for the physical focus, Natsuya shifted the reinforcement ratio from Water
Breathing's balanced "Full Body Coordination" to the core and spinal regions. If
Obanai wanted to strike from angles an opponent couldn't predict, he needed a
spine like a spring. Only with a core strength far beyond the average human
could a swordsman twist their torso and limbs into the "impossible" positions
required for an assassin build.
Unlike his training with Kyojuro, Natsuya didn't stop at the lungs for Obanai.
He imparted basic but brutal combat strategies and footwork.
Footwork was for kinetic efficiency—managing the rhythm of the "Neutral Game."
In almost any combat system, a stable base and nimble feet were the foundation
of every S-Tier player.
The strategy, however, was about "Target Selection."
The neck was the absolute weak point, but it was also the most guarded hitbox.
Against a demon of equal stats, a frontal breakthrough was high-risk.
"Don't just aim for the head," Natsuya advised. "Look at the biological weak
points."
"The throat, the eye sockets, the wrists, the Achilles tendons... even the joint
gaps."
The goal wasn't to kill instantly, but to "Open the Map."
- Striking the eyes blinded them.
- Rupturing the eardrums broke their balance.
- Severing the tendons crippled their movement.
Even if a demon could regenerate in seconds, those few frames of "Stun" or
"Snares" were enough for a Slayer to end the match.
Finally, Natsuya handed Obanai a vial of concentrated Wisteria extract. He told
the boy to coat his Nichirin Sword with it when facing High-tier mobs.
"If you're going for a Snake-style, you need fangs," Natsuya said. "Don't put
the poison on the first few hits. Let them get cocky. Demons love that 'I got
hit, I regenerated, now I mock you' loop. Use the standard blade for the opening
trade. Then, for the critical hit, let the edge carry a dose lethal enough to
melt their guts."
Natsuya was genuinely looking forward to seeing the "Surprise" on a demon's face
after taking a "Poison-buffed" crit from Obanai.
After sending the two boys off to grind their new patterns, Natsuya finally
turned to Shinobu Kocho.
the girl looked at him, tilting her head and pouting.
"Finally my turn, Kokonoe-kun?"
Her tone sounded like a child who had been neglected for five minutes and was
now "venting" to get attention. Natsuya ignored the "Affection Point" prompt and
tossed her a specialized wooden sword.
It was straight, more like a rapier than a katana, and significantly heavier
than a standard Nichirin blade. The tip was wrapped in thick cloth soaked in
bright red dye.
"Since you've chosen the path of poison, we're going to push it to the absolute
limit," Natsuya stated, assuming a purely defensive posture.
"So, Shinobu. Use every trick you have... and try to stab me."
"Your goal is to get that red dye on my uniform."
Her lack of upper-body strength was a hard-coded stat deficit. Instead of
wasting time trying to patch a "Low IV" stat, Natsuya decided to bypass it
entirely. Since she was focused on "Injection" mechanics, he re-centered her
training on Thrust Speed, Precision, and Evasion.
The speed was to deliver the poison. The evasion was to ensure she didn't get
"One-shotted" before the DoT (Damage over Time) could tick the Boss down to
zero.
As for her gear? Whether she commissioned a smith or Natsuya eventually modded
it himself with his [Smithing] skill, they would optimize for "Delivery
Efficiency."
Maybe a hollow-point blade for high-capacity storage, or a stinger-tip that
broke off inside the demon to deliver a timed-release payload.
If the toxicity is low, we just increase the volume.
"Training with this weighted blade isn't about arm strength," Natsuya explained.
"It's about learning to funnel your entire body weight and leg-drive into a
single pixel at the tip of your sword. Like this."
Natsuya lunged.
It was like a "Short-Range Warp." He blurred in Shinobu's vision, appearing at
her flank instantly. His right fist exploded forward. A streak of white light
grazed the girl's hair, followed by the boom of displaced air hitting her
eardrums.
"When you can thrust that heavy blade with that kind of velocity, switching back
to your real sword will make your 'Active Frames' nearly instant."
Shinobu raised the heavy training sword. She wasn't even surprised by the punch
anymore; she was used to his "Pro Player" displays.
"Kokonoe-kun... you better not hit me back!"
The next second, the explosive speed of Insect Breathing erupted in the garden.
It was a straight line of shimmering light, like the stinger of a giant hornet.
[Insect Breathing, Butterfly Dance: Caprice!]
Natsuya tilted his head. The lethal thrust whistled past his neck.
Shinobu's arm strength was a 1/10, but that didn't mean she was a bad unit. Her
lower body and core "Torsion" stats were far above any female Slayer Natsuya had
seen. Combine that with her "Lightweight" racial trait, and her burst-speed in a
short lunge was S-Tier.
Shinobu knew a single hit wouldn't land. She retracted the blade instantly. The
next second, she became a cloud of afterimages, her blade flickering toward
Natsuya's vitals. Even without poison, being hit by that heavy wood would leave
a "Stun" debuff for days.
[Dragonfly Dance: Compound Eye Hexagon!]
Natsuya shifted his feet, moving only as much as necessary.
"Drive the power from the soles of your feet. Let it travel up the spine, over
the shoulder, and spray out the tip of the blade like venom."
"Don't just target the neck. Eyes. Joint gaps. Nerve clusters."
"You aren't Iguro. You aren't looking for a 'Backstab.' You're looking for the
most efficient 'Injection Site'."
Natsuya used his hands to redirect and guide her strikes, forcing her to adjust
her angle and lung capacity mid-combo.
"Better. That was faster." "Again. Don't let the rhythm drop."
Slowly, Shinobu's thrusts began to change. She dropped the elaborate "Starter
Animations" and cut out the "Fluff" movements. Every lunge became a cold,
clinical, high-efficiency strike designed for one thing: The Connection.
Her breathing rhythm shifted too.
Insect Breathing was a derivative of Flower (which came from Water), so it
usually had a "Flowing" quality. Now, it was becoming shorter and more violent.
It's starting to look less like Water and more like Thunder, Natsuya noted.
Finally—with Natsuya "throwing" the match slightly—Shinobu's wooden sword tapped
his shoulder.
He had to let her land one; otherwise, his Medicine HUD predicted she would
train until her stamina hit zero and she fainted.
He handed her a towel to wipe the sweat.
"Aside from 'Thrusting,' we should look into projectiles and throwing
mechanics."
"Throwing weapons?" Shinobu blinked, surprised.
"Exactly," Natsuya nodded. "The goal is 'Poison Delivery.' If your blade is
parried or you can't close the gap, a Wisteria-coated needle or a throwing knife
is a perfect 'Mix-up.' It breaks the opponent's guard and forces a 'Cleanse' or
a 'Regen' cycle."
Shinobu imagined herself as a legendary ninja, draped in hidden needles and
toxins.
If I keep training with Kokonoe-kun... will I even be a 'Swordsman' anymore? I'm
becoming a 'Poison Assassin' build. It's so far from the 'Noble Warrior' image
of the Corps.
Natsuya saw her hesitation and asked a "Main Quest" level question:
"Do you want to be a 'Swordsman,' or do you want to kill demons?"
The question brought the girl to a halt.
Did it even matter? No.
Shinobu wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her signature smile returned, but it
held a new edge of resolve. "I'll master it. My own, complete Insect Breathing."
Or maybe 'Poison Breathing', Natsuya thought.
A sudden gust of wind swept through the courtyard, shaking the bare winter
branches. A single yellow leaf drifted toward the ground.
Shinobu moved.
The heavy wooden sword let out a sharp, high-pitched whistle. In a flash of
static-speed, the blade pierced the leaf mid-air, pinning it to a tree trunk.
The red dye left a tiny, perfect dot on the wood.
The feeling... I've got it!
Shinobu's eyes sparkled. She turned to Natsuya. "Well? How was that, Big Dum—"
She stopped. Natsuya was staring at the tree, his eyes glazed over.
Natsuya: Oh? A 'Critical Success' proc?
Shinobu's Insect Breathing mastery had just taken a massive jump, and her base
Agility had ticked up by 2 points.
[Mentorship Level Up: LV.3] (NEW)
Teaching prodigies gives way more XP than teaching scrubs, Natsuya realized.
This is a pure win-win grind.
☆☆☆
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