To be honest, in the Yoshiwara of this era, unless one belonged to a wealthy and influential family, bathing for ordinary people usually meant finding a secluded corner and splashing themselves with water. If a girl was particularly modest, she might at most put up a makeshift wooden shed draped with clothes.
However, Gyutaro doted on his sister. Despite the extremely harsh conditions of the times, he had managed to build a decent bathroom for Ume. The floor was laid with wooden planks and stones, and beneath the elevated platform, space was left for clearing waste. Furthermore, Gyutaro possessed a surprisingly modern sense of layout; he had even used a cloth as a partition to separate the latrine from the bathing area.
Because of her brother's injuries, Ume didn't feel comfortable letting Gyutaro bathe alone, so she asked Izumi Kiyokazu to keep a watchful eye. Gyutaro wouldn't let Kiyokazu inside, though—a fact that Kiyokazu was more than grateful for. Regardless of the circumstances, watching another man bathe was simply not something he could bring himself to do.
Gyutaro was incredibly thin. In the original lore, he had mentioned that no matter how much he ate, he could never put on weight. In Kiyokazu's eyes, however, that was likely a psychological issue; if he were eating Ryoko's cooking, Gyutaro would probably weigh three hundred pounds regardless of his metabolism.
The sound of splashing inside the bathroom eventually ceased, and Gyutaro emerged, fully dressed. Seeing the steam rising from the man's body, Kiyokazu offered a ladle of cold water with a grin to quench his thirst.
Gyutaro didn't refuse. He took the water, his gaze sweeping over his sister's somewhat bashful face before glancing at Kiyokazu, who stood ramrod straight outside the door. A flicker of helplessness momentarily crossed those habitually hostile eyes, ultimately dissolving into a barely audible huff. He tilted his head back and drained the water in one go.
"Let's train."
Gyutaro wiped his mouth and shoved the empty ladle back into Kiyokazu's hand. His voice was still gruff, but it lacked the sharp edge of his previous resentment.
"Umu! You really can't wait, can you? Hahaha! But for now, you must prioritize your recovery. Kiyokazu, after yesterday's session, I've realized that your understanding of sword techniques and Breathing Styles is actually quite excellent."
Rengoku Mujuro continued, "What you need now is fundamental physical conditioning. Often, you can keep up with my techniques and even predict where my next strike will fall. Your mind can keep pace, but your body cannot. This is a rare situation. Since that's the case, I suggest you focus on physical training and synchronizing your body with your Breathing Style. Today, I want to practice more with Gyutaro-kun."
Kiyokazu nodded in agreement. He didn't offer any objection. He merely possessed the inheritance of Sun Breathing; it didn't mean he instantly possessed the power of Yoriichi Tsugikuni. In matters of training, it was only natural to follow the advice of a powerhouse like Rengoku Mujuro, who was at the level of a Hashira.
Furthermore, Kiyokazu had discovered that the Sun Breathing he had acquired possessed a truly broken ability. Because he had read the original manga, he had a certain level of knowledge regarding the other Breathing Styles. He found that even if he had only seen the general performance of those techniques, a bit of mental simulation and deduction allowed him to roughly derive the breathing frequency and physical movements required to execute them. It was as if the original user had demonstrated the technique right inside his mind!
And that wasn't all. During yesterday's sparring session with Mujuro, Kiyokazu had unexpectedly discovered that he could perfectly replicate every sword technique Mujuro used just by looking at it once! Although he hadn't had the chance to put it into practice, the overwhelming "I can do this" signal from his brain made him firmly believe he could mimic the techniques one-to-one.
The training hours flew by. The sparring between Gyutaro and Mujuro wasn't particularly "spectacular." Perhaps because of Kiyokazu's stunning performance the day before, Mujuro had subconsciously used more force, leading to Gyutaro getting beaten quite badly during the session. If Mujuro hadn't realized it in time and adjusted the harsh pace, Gyutaro might have been driven to despair.
Yet, these few hours were invaluable to Gyutaro. Not only did he discard his previous "street-fighting" habits, but through the guidance of a master like Mujuro, he gradually began to grope his way toward a combat style uniquely his own. It was a somewhat "vile" way of fighting, but one that perfectly suited the survival instincts of those at the bottom of society.
Coating blades in poison, throwing sand in eyes, using underhanded moves... none of them were "honorable," but they were undeniably effective. Mujuro was not a rigid man; instead, he admired Gyutaro's "win at any cost" approach to defeating demons.
Ume watched their training, and while most of her attention was on Kiyokazu, she couldn't help but feel worried as she watched Gyutaro being knocked to the ground repeatedly.
In addition to improving Gyutaro's combat skills, Mujuro also discussed Gyutaro's strange breathing patterns. After learning that Gyutaro had been trying to adapt his breathing by observing Kiyokazu's method, Mujuro was momentarily stunned. Are Breathing Styles really this easy to comprehend?
Worrying that Gyutaro might develop his breathing incorrectly, the three of them spent a long time discussing it. Ultimately, they managed to outline a breathing method that belonged solely to Gyutaro.
Its name: The Breath of Poison.
The deduction process had been simple: Kiyokazu provided the framework and methodology, Mujuro handled the minor corrections, and Gyutaro provided the physical feedback and compatibility. Throughout the process, Mujuro had been rendered utterly speechless by Kiyokazu's talent. The boy had never seen these Breathing Styles, yet simply through descriptions, he could simulate and understand the essence of each one.
Such talent... was no different from a god.
In the face of Kiyokazu's monstrous aptitude, Gyutaro's talent for self-teaching and creating his own breathing seemed to dim by comparison. Kiyokazu was even considering using Insect Breathing and Flower Breathing as templates to create a style for Ume, who was currently preparing their food in the back. Though, what should I call it?
The days passed in this manner. For two days straight, nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Until...
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