"[ Breathing Technique has reached the entry level]"
"[Breathing Technique LV1 → LV2]"
A cold and emotionless electronic voice followed.
This time, there was no mention of any counterattack reward. Clearly, Breathing Techniques were not popular in the Ninja World and hadn't gained the System's recognition, being classified as Taijutsu instead.
It wasn't that Kiyokawa Izumi was greedy for the so-called rewards.
Most of the rewards given by the retarded System were useless—though they might have some reference value if they didn't involve the concept of Chakra.
Going back to the Breathing Technique itself, Kiyokawa Izumi hadn't thought much at the time, following the mindset of doing whatever felt comfortable.
While keeping the general direction unchanged, he had referenced multiple Breathing Techniques he knew to create his own special Breathing Technique.
It wasn't exactly a stroke of Genius; it could only be described as mediocre.
Tsugikuni Yoriichi could create Sun Breathing out of thin air. Although the first generation of learners couldn't master Sun Breathing, they were able to create the five derived Breathing Techniques based on its principles under Tsugikuni Yoriichi's guidance.
Compared to them, Kiyokawa Izumi, who possessed the Sharingan and was familiar with multiple Breathing Techniques, only created his own Breathing Technique when he had no other choice—in comparison, he was clearly inferior.
'It still lacks extreme explosive power and speed. Compared to Water Breathing, which is steady, balanced, and capable of both offense and defense, it leans more towards hiding one's presence.'
'And the utilization of the five senses!'
'Perhaps it can be called Dark Breathing.'
Kiyokawa Izumi felt that this newly created Breathing Technique still had room for optimization.
Of course, because it was extremely suitable for him, the improvement to his strength was very obvious.
For instance, if the improvement in overall physical fitness when using Water Breathing was 1.5 times, then with Dark Breathing, it might be 2.2 times, or even 2.5 times.
These figures were naturally inaccurate, just something Kiyokawa Izumi had made up for ease of understanding.
Kamanue felt his speed had suddenly increased, likely because of the reasons mentioned above.
As for the blade suddenly disappearing?
It might have been caused by the nichirin blade suddenly changing color.
The original blue had turned into a very inconspicuous dark silver.
Coincidentally, the moon was covered by clouds, so the blade seemed to be hidden in the darkness, happening to achieve an invisibility effect.
'The first form shall be called Night Crows Shadow.'
As his consciousness gradually blurred, Kiyokawa Izumi completely fainted.
Mainly because he heard human footsteps approaching; otherwise, he could have held on for a bit longer.
Kiyokawa Izumi's Kasugai Crow had vanished after the battle began.
It was now cawing anxiously as a burly, honest-looking swordsman walked over quickly from not far away.
Seeing the traces of the battle, Tanaka Kentaro couldn't help but swallow his saliva, clearly startled.
He was also considered an experienced Demon Slayer.
Based on a simple judgment of the traces at the scene, he could conclude that the demon's strength was extremely formidable.
He was likely far from being its match.
Seeing a figure lying not far away, the warm-hearted Senior hurried forward to check, and after a moment, he gasped.
He didn't know how to perform emergency wound treatment.
In past battles, he had never suffered such a severe injury, let alone encountered a demon that mastered a Blood Demon Art!
Seeing the burn on Kiyokawa Izumi's chest, he didn't know how to deal with it for the moment.
The Hidden Members should still be on their way—could the Hidden, who were responsible for logistics, really handle this kind of injury?
Tanaka Kentaro, feeling his scalp tingle, neither knew how to treat the wound nor dared to move Kiyokawa Izumi's body, so he could only unsheathe his nichirin blade and stand guard by his side... A familiar ceiling, a familiar hospital bed.
"Isn't this a Wisteria House?"
Kiyokawa Izumi, with a faint pain around his eye sockets, muttered to himself in a daze.
He thought he would be sent by the Hidden Members to a place engraved with the Wisteria Family Crest—this wasn't some strange organization, just a Family.
They had once been saved by a Demon Slayer, so they were willing to provide free assistance, including room, board, and doctors.
Kiyokawa Izumi was well aware of his injuries; the Hidden Members certainly wouldn't be able to handle them, and he needed a professional physician.
Unexpectedly, after all that, he was back at the Butterfly Mansion.
The key point was, the money hadn't been spent yet!
"Good afternoon, Mr. Kiyokawa Izumi."
A gentle voice sounded from the side. Kiyokawa Izumi subconsciously turned his head and saw that same familiar smile.
"My injury shouldn't be that serious, right?"
"It's very serious. Did you encounter a powerful demon? Was it a Lower Rank?"
Kochou Shinobu said expressionlessly, with a hint of seriousness.
"You mean it's a bit troublesome, but not a big problem, right?"
Kiyokawa Izumi saw through her teasing at a glance. Gently touching his aching and itchy chest, he was mainly worried about whether it would get infected.
There might already be the concept of bacteria in this era, but there was no such thing as antibiotics—Penicillin wasn't discovered until 1928.
On second thought, maybe there was no need to worry too much?
With a setting as mystical as Breathing Techniques, and given that Kochou Shinobu's medical skills were far superior to ordinary physicians, a burn that wasn't particularly severe should be handled properly, right?
"As for the demon... if it really were a Lower Rank, don't expect me to still be alive to pay back the money."