"Did you hear? Garou-senpai is going to spar with Aomori-senpai again."
"Really? Let's go, let's go! Time for a show."
Disciples who had caught wind of the news formed a large circle. Garou and Aomori stood opposite each other, their gazes meeting, each seeing the other's resolute determination.
"Ahem, you must observe carefully. Don't just watch the excitement. Afterward, I will have you review this match," Bang first cautioned the surrounding disciples, then addressed Garou and Aomori, saying, "The focus is on finding your own weaknesses during the fight; winning or losing is secondary. Also, stop once you tap out."
The first sentence was mainly directed at Aomori, and the latter was mainly for Garou.
"Bang-sensei, I will make good use of this opportunity."
"Relax, old man, I'll teach him a good lesson."
Bang glanced between the two, nodded, and declared, "Then, the match begins!"
Garou and Aomori took up the same stance. After a few seconds of confrontation, Garou attacked first.
He leaped toward Aomori like a wolf, his fist transforming into a wolf's maw, aiming straight for Aomori's neck. Aomori countered with his own fist, curved like a crane, pecking toward the wolf's waist.
Garou frowned, the wolf's maw redirected to pursue the crane, and Aomori likewise changed his direction to meet the enemy.
In a brief instant, the two exchanged blows multiple times, but neither managed to gain the upper hand.
Having fought Aomori many times, Garou knew this much wouldn't defeat him. He scoffed, bringing his other hand into the fight, launching a fierce, tidal-wave-like assault with both hands. Fist shadows emerged from all sorts of tricky angles.
"There it is! It's the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist!" one disciple exclaimed loudly.
Previously, Aomori had, without exception, been defeated by Garou's Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.
But this was no longer the past.
'I can see it!' Aomori took a deep breath, executing the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist himself, using the deflecting technique to neutralize Garou's attacks one by one.
The surrounding disciples watched, stunned.
"So fast! So powerful!"
"Garou-senpai is truly the top disciple; I wouldn't be able to block a single one of those attacks."
"Aomori-senpai isn't bad either; he's managing to block all of them."
"Hey, I remember Aomori-senpai only joined less than three months ago, but Garou-senpai has been practicing for several years."
"Aomori-senpai might be a once-in-a-century martial arts prodigy. It looks like he'll surpass Garou-senpai soon."
"Idiot, don't say that out loud, he'll kill you..."
Bang, standing with his hands clasped behind his back, nodded slightly. Aomori's progress was beyond his expectation. In just over two months, he had grown from an uninitiated novice to a respectable martial artist. It seemed he had encountered yet another peerless genius.
'Heaven has favored me, an old man, by letting me encounter two geniuses. This way, my martial arts legacy should be passed down completely. If only they could get along harmoniously.'
Garou's hostility toward Aomori was evident, and Bang had agreed to the match hoping it would be a way for Garou to understand Aomori.
As for whether anything would go wrong? Bang felt that with him present, nothing untoward would happen.
'Damn it!' Garou was equally surprised by Aomori's massive improvement, that he could block all his attacks. 'And what's with this guy's strength?'
Every time their fists and feet met, the force transmitted from the opposite side vibrated and numbed his hands. Last time they fought, Aomori was just a slightly more durable punching bag.
The surrounding crowd's murmurs made Garou even more agitated and furious. He sent Aomori flying with a whip-kick, his lowered arms trembling slightly.
"Interesting. Too interesting. This is what makes it fun," Garou hunched his body, his expression becoming more menacing. "I'm getting serious now. Don't die on me, Junior Brother Aomori."
"Then I'll go all out too," Aomori, sensing the danger, rapidly adjusted his breathing rhythm, activating Thunder Breathing. Visibly electric energy crackled around his body.
This was the first time Aomori had used Thunder Breathing in the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist dojo.
'What is that? Electricity? A psychic power?' Garou became wary in his heart and paused his prepared attack.
Bang was also greatly astonished: "That, could that be..."
Someone in the crowd exclaimed in delight: "Finally, it's out! Aomori-senpai's signature lightning!"
"What is it?" Most people looked confused.
"Don't you guys know? Aomori-senpai, like Bang-sensei, is constantly fighting evil monsters. He's a revered hero. He can not only manipulate lightning but also possesses angelic healing abilities, which is why people call him the 'Thunder Angel'."
"Ohh..."
'Evil monsters? A revered hero? What a joke!' Garou, whose trigger was precisely hit, rushed forward in a burst of anger.
In the ensuing exchange of punches and kicks, it was now Garou who was at a disadvantage.
"Aomori-senpai should win this fight. I really didn't expect that."
Others shared similar opinions.
However, Aomori, who was in the middle of the fight, felt his pressure increasing.
'He's faster.' Garou's movements became quicker and quicker. Aomori felt like he couldn't keep up. 'This guy seems completely unaffected by the paralyzing effects of the electric energy. As expected, he has that protagonist plot armor that makes him stronger against stronger opponents.'
Deflecting, blocking, and flowing attacks—Garou demonstrated the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist techniques to their absolute limit.
If Bang's technique value was 10, Aomori's was only 3, and the current Garou should be around 5. The gap was clear.
'I'll lose if this keeps up.' Aomori gritted his teeth, shook off Garou, and focused all his power into a single blow.
'Total Concentration! Thunder Breathing: First Form, Thunderclap and Flash!'
His body became the blade, his fist the tip!
"Damn it, don't underestimate me!" Garou recognized the power behind the strike. He roared and likewise used his full strength, delivering a punch diagonally toward Aomori.
Just as they collided, two hands were inserted between the pair. The grasp appeared gentle but held an irresistible force, easily dissolving both of their fierce attacks.
"Bang-sensei."
"Old man!"
Bang released his hands, clasped them behind his back again, and said, "That's enough. This sparring match is a draw."
"Understood," Aomori said without hesitation.
"Tch!" Garou was unconvinced in his heart, but he knew they couldn't fight anymore, so he implicitly accepted the result.
"Both of you, go to the rest room and apply some medicine," Bang instructed.
Although neither of them had truly landed a successful hit on the other, the points where their fists and feet had clashed were somewhat bruised and swollen.
"Actually, I have some means of healing, Garou-senpai. How about I help you with your injuries?" Aomori didn't mind putting on a good show in front of Bang.
"No need. These minor injuries are nothing," Garou said dismissively, and walked away by himself.
He returned to his room and, after closing the door, his strained expression dropped. Gritting his teeth, he tended to his bruised hands and feet.
"Aomori, damn you! You can fool others, but you can't fool me. One day, I will tear off your mask of hypocrisy," Garou's eyes were dark. "Heh, a hero?"
…
On the other side, Aomori followed Bang back to the rest room.
Seeing the healing technique Aomori used, Bang exclaimed in wonder.
After the treatment was complete, Bang's expression turned serious: "Aomori, what you used during the match with Garou wasn't a psychic power, but a Breathing Style, wasn't it?"
"A Breathing Style?" Aomori answered half-truthfully: "I'm not sure myself. It's a method of training I found by chance. Bang-sensei, what is a Breathing Style?"
"A Breathing Style is the profound secret of martial arts, where through a specific breathing technique, one inhales a large amount of oxygen in a short time, pushing the body's functions to their absolute limit. However, this also causes damage to the body. Your Breathing Style appears slightly different from the ones I know; it seems to lean toward other aspects while weakening the physical reinforcement, and the resulting harm is also minor," Bang explained.
The Breathing Styles in Demon Slayer are weaker, likely because the physical bodies of people in that world aren't strong enough. If they chose Bang's Breathing Style, their bodies would probably collapse the moment they started.
It's the same principle as the Demon Slayer Mark that appears later.
"Ahem, about that," Bang looked slightly embarrassed. "As a martial artist, I am always curious about different martial arts. I wonder if you would be willing to demonstrate your Breathing Style to me? Of course, in return, I will impart all of my lifelong martial arts experience to you."
In truth, Bang's body was too formidable, and his control over it was superb; stopping bleeding and setting bones were trivial matters. The Demon Slayer Breathing Styles would have a negligible effect on him, or rather, he had already entered the state of 'Total Concentration Constant'—a state Aomori hadn't fully mastered yet.
The Demon Slayer Breathing Style would only serve as inspiration for him.
Therefore, Bang had long intended to take Aomori as a true, inner-circle disciple and pass on his lifetime of martial arts experience to him; he was merely using this opportunity to propose it.
"Of course, I am willing." Bang was indeed a top-tier teacher, and Aomori, who knew his temperament and character well, accepted without hesitation.
"Hahahaha, excellent, excellent!" Bang laughed heartily.
Afterward, the two engaged in a deeper discussion regarding the Breathing Style and the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.