Hiding in the sand, splitting into many places, starting with Arkham

Following Morioka Nen into the temple, amidst the chanting of monks performing their morning prayers and the sound of wooden fish drums, Shimizu arrived at a small courtyard behind the temple.

In the middle of the courtyard, two young boys, who looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old, were practicing moves with bamboo swords.

"Mr. Morioka!" × 2

The two boys stopped their movements, bowed to Morioka Nen, and curiously sized up Shimizu.

"Their names are Akiba Ren and Sagawa Kaneto, and they are also aspiring swordsmen training in the Breath of Wind. Ren, Kaneto, this is Shimizu-kun. Although he has not officially joined the Demon Slayer Corps and has not yet learned any breathing techniques, he has already had the experience of defeating a demon."

Morioka Nen introduced the three to each other. Shimizu exchanged greetings with the two boys, and then Morioka Nen had the two boys continue practicing, leading Shimizu to a room on the other side.

"The journey was long. Does Shimizu-kun wish to rest for a day first, or would you like to begin learning now? If you wish to rest, the wing room on the left has already been prepared for you."

Morioka Nen poured a cup of tea for himself and Shimizu, and asked.

He was asking Shimizu in a relatively equal manner, rather than acting like a senior teacher.

Perhaps he had learned something from Ubuyashiki about Shimizu's strength, potential, and background.

Although he believed in every comrade who joined the Demon Slayer Corps to eliminate demons, the young masters from noble families were sometimes not easy to get along with.

Especially given that the Uesugi family had sponsored the Demon Slayer Corps with a large amount of valuable resources.

"Of course, the sooner the better. I have been looking forward to the wonderful breathing techniques for a long time."

Shimizu said.

With chakra, traveling was an easy task.

"In that case, this old monk should first understand Shimizu-kun's current situation."

Morioka Nen said, pressing his palms together.

Since Shimizu was able to defeat a demon without learning breathing techniques, he must have some martial arts skills.

After putting down his luggage and resting briefly, Shimizu and Morioka Nen arrived at the open space in the center of the courtyard.

Akiba Ren and Sagawa Kaneto stepped aside, whispering to each other as they watched, bamboo swords in hand, staring at each other.

"Master Morioka, please forgive me."

As soon as the words fell, Shimizu took a step forward and rushed to the front of Morioka Nen, slashing down with his sword from above.

Morioka Nen moved his hand, and the bamboo sword in his hand skillfully deflected the force. He moved his feet, changed direction, and slashed his sword towards Shimizu's neck.

"Clang!"

The two bamboo swords collided in the air, making a crisp sound.

After exchanging a blow, Shimizu had a general idea of the old monk's level.

Although old and frail, his reaction speed, strength, and swordsmanship were all quite good.

Although Morioka Nen certainly had not used his full strength, Shimizu, with the vision inherited from his main body, could roughly see his level.

If he were to compare it to the Naruto world, Shimizu believed that this old man's combat power in close combat should not be worse than some of the Sand Village's Chunin who were good at swordsmanship.

Considering that this person was not young and was a retired Kinoe-ranked swordsman, the Pillars of the Demon Slayer Corps might have close combat capabilities approaching Jonin level.

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

The two bamboo swords crisscrossed in the air, constantly making empty sounds as they were wielded.

Shimizu changed his stance, took continuous steps, and attacked constantly, while Morioka Nen dealt with it quite easily.

"Breath of Wind, Fourth Form: Rising Dust Storm."

Sharp blades of wind flew from Morioka Nen's bamboo sword, swirling towards Shimizu like a tornado.

Shimizu paused, steadied his stance, and continuously slashed his bamboo sword in front of him, blocking the incoming wind blades.

Just as Shimizu had taken all the wind blades and had not yet had time to catch his breath, Morioka Nen had already leaped high and slashed diagonally at Shimizu from above with the bamboo sword in his hand.

This time, there was only one wind blade, but it was several meters long, spiraling down towards Shimizu like a dragon.

"Breath of Wind, Fifth Form: Cold Autumn Mountain Wind."

He couldn't take it head-on!

Even knowing that Morioka Nen would restrain his strength, Shimizu dodged to the other side, using all his strength to meet Morioka Nen, who was changing his move, with the bamboo sword in his hand.

"Crack."

The bamboo sword snapped.

"Very exquisite swordsmanship."

Shimizu took a step back and looked at Morioka Nen.

Morioka Nen had definitely held back. Only the last two swords could be considered using some real skill.

"Shimizu-kun has great strength. So it's natural strength. No wonder he can defeat demons without knowing breathing techniques."

Morioka Nen also praised.

Because Shimizu's swordsmanship, in his opinion, was quite poor, there was really nothing to praise, so he could only praise his great strength.

And Shimizu's body, when strengthened by chakra, had increased strength and speed, naturally far exceeding ordinary people. In their eyes, it was natural strength.

"After all, this old monk is old. I have to catch my breath after swinging the sword for a while, and I'm missing a piece of meat on my calf, so I definitely can't fight anymore if I continue. So I used a little more force. Shimizu-kun should be alright, right?"

Morioka Nen put down the bamboo sword, rubbed his old waist, and said to Shimizu.

Shimizu looked at the few cuts on his clothes caused by the old monk's wind blades and shook his head.

In fact, Shimizu had already noticed during the fight that the old monk's movements of borrowing strength basically came from his left leg. This meant that his right leg was probably injured. Now it seemed that this was indeed the case.

Missing a piece of meat on his calf, his right calf had basically lost its explosive power, and the footwork movement during combat could only rely on his left leg.

In addition to his aging body, his strength and reaction would be weakened to some extent. He could still have this strength. This old man was indeed a Kinoe-ranked swordsman second only to the Pillars.

"It's okay, Master Morioka. I wonder if I can start learning breathing techniques now?"

Morioka Nen chanted a Buddhist prayer and shook his head.

"Although Shimizu-kun has some basic swordsmanship, it is not solid. I am afraid that it is not appropriate to rashly learn more advanced swordsmanship. However, Shimizu-kun is strong and sturdy, with natural strength, so there is no need to work on building up strength like the other two."

"Alright."

Shimizu was a little disappointed, but he also understood.

Although he had been learning Sand Hidden Style swordsmanship, it had only been for a few months, not to mention that Shimizu had focused most of his energy on puppet techniques and wind release training. It was normal for his swordsmanship foundation to be insufficient.

After a brief interaction, the old monk also found that Shimizu was not as纨绔 as he had thought, but was quite reasonable and easy to serve, and he was relieved.

"In my opinion, at the current stage, Shimizu-kun should make up for these shortcomings when using the sword…"