The Warrior of Love

"A wild ninja from the countryside!"

Chapter 12: Ninja and Mori Zhitian

Marichi, derived from the Sanskrit word "marici", means sun flame, majesty, and sunshine. Its original deity is a female patron saint of Buddhism, also known as Marichi Bodhisattva, Marichi Buddha Mother, and Yangyantian. She is sometimes regarded as the incarnation of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.

This is a very wonderful goddess, because she possesses three forms: celestial maiden, wrathful, and guardian. She is not only the Buddha mother who can dispel disasters, but also the god of war who can slay demons and eliminate evil.

After Buddhism was introduced to Japan, the samurai believed that this goddess could bring military luck, and revered her as the "Goddess of Kagerou". Because she possessed the power of invisibility, which made it impossible for the gods to detect her whereabouts, she was regarded as a patron saint by the ninja.

——The Torindo family has worshipped this goddess for generations.

But they are neither monks nor believers, they simply inherited the customs of previous generations.

Well, their family actually makes a living by carving Buddha statues, and they are not "professional" ninjas.

It is said that the ancestor of the Torindo family was once a wild ninja who did not even have a surname. Although he had extraordinary skills, he never revealed where he came from.

More than 300 years ago (in the early days of the Tokugawa shogunate), he settled in the countryside with his wife, gave up his career as a ninja, and made a living by farming and carving Buddha statues for temples. The surname Torindō was only given later.

The goddess statue that this clan has worshipped from generation to generation seems to be the work of the ancestor after his technical skills have reached perfection, and it was left behind as a souvenir to bid farewell to the past.

The wild ninja did not leave his skills to future generations. He lived a quiet life with his wife. However, his grandchildren found something like a secret scroll among his belongings. Relying on an unsystematic training method, they barely inherited some of the ninja skills.

Although that ancestor did not leave his name in history, his strength was truly amazing. His descendants possessed extraordinary skills solely through the incomplete inheritance, and had also been active on the dark side of this country several times.

However, due to tradition, the profession of Buddha sculptor has never been lost.

Then in the generation of Feng's grandfather, this family of ninjas once followed the Meiji Restorationist Sakamoto Ryoma, but ultimately they were unable to save his life from the hands of the enemy. In despair, they chose to give up their ninja career.

Out of loyalty, Feng's grandfather planned to avenge Sakamoto Ryoma before retiring, but in the process he accidentally discovered a secret: a nobleman from the Tokugawa clan was actually eating human flesh in secret!

That was the first encounter between the Torindō clan and the "demon". Feng's grandfather did not know the weakness of the demon, so he just fled in embarrassment. However, he did not give up the pursuit and eventually learned about the existence of the "evil demon" and the "Demon Slayer Corps".

And after investigation, it was proved that the ghost that he had met on the narrow road was a pawn planted in the court by someone with ulterior motives to serve as a cover for him.

Of course, this evil demon from the Tokugawa clan was eventually defeated, and the Demon Slayer Corps also established a relationship with an important official of the new government, thus avoiding being affected when the government implemented the "sword ban".

In short, Feng's grandfather was once a ninja who was active on the stage of the last century. He accidentally saw the world of evil spirits and the Demon Slayer Corps, and naturally joined in.

By the time it was passed down to Feng's generation, it had already been passed down for three consecutive generations of ghost hunters... According to her, if Jiang Liu could survive the training, he would be the fourth generation.

Speaking of training, Jiang Liu was so upset that he didn't know where to start.

Jiang Liu vaguely remembers that in the original work, the protagonist "Tanjiro Kamado" learned martial arts from the original Water Pillar. Although it was extremely hard and even life-threatening, it was still "understandable" physical and survival training.

However, Feng's training course is quite "strange". A large amount of high-intensity physical training is fine, and various training reaction speed raids are tolerable, but this damn woman even controls how to eat, drink, defecate and urinate, and even the sleeping position must be according to her instructions!

When to put your toes on when walking, when to put your heels on, how to keep balance and speed up when walking with your waist bent, how to hold back your breath when crawling on the ground, how to guard against a surprise attack from behind when your muscles are relaxed, how long it takes to finish eating, how long you close your eyes before entering a deep sleep...

You also need to develop a "regular excretion habit"!

This evil woman even rushed in waving a wooden sword and attacked Jiang Liu when he was about to use his lungs!

Jiang Liu originally thought that after his journey in the previous world, his endurance was already very good and he could survive any harsh environment, but he almost couldn't stand the ascetic training of this ghost woman.

However, Jiang Liu could also see that this should be the training method of the ninja school. Didn’t Master Roshi in Dragon Ball teach Goku how to farm?

This is just a strange way of training, but it actually has a profound purpose. Perhaps Feng’s practice is also true - I hope so!

If Feng says in the end that he was just "teasing you" and these things are actually meaningless... Jiang Liu will really go crazy!

"Jiang Liu, you must remember that what I teach you is not real ninjutsu."

The black-haired boy was shirtless, holding a dark three-foot wooden stick and swinging it in the air continuously, practicing basic training in arm strength and swordsmanship. As the stick turned into afterimages and fell again and again, hot beads of sweat splashed down.

Someone was sitting cross-legged on the side, drinking and admiring the young man's gradually growing stronger body.

"Ever since the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, which truly ended the troubled times, ninjas no longer had a future. What remained were only the remnants of the times.

Now that guns have triumphed over swords, those ancient killing techniques have become extremely inefficient, becoming almost like a circus, with nothing left except their performance value... This is the twilight of ninjas and samurai, just like the Onmyoji of the past.

But there are things among the remnants of the ninja that still have value in this era, and that is the way to "live", which is exactly what I want to give you!"

call out!

Feng flicked his thumb, and a small stone flew through the air and hit Jiang Liu in the ribs as he was swinging the stick in the air. His body suddenly shook, and the stick in his hand almost slipped out of his hand.

"Too tight! You're always so tight! Did that stick grow out of your crotch? Why are you holding it so tightly?!

It doesn't mean that you won't be knocked away as long as you hold it tightly. Of course you can't hold it without strength, but putting too much strength into it will affect the agility of the movement and make your muscles stiff.

Muscles that are always tense cannot exert any strength. The strength generated in the moment of transition from "relaxation" to "tightness" is the strongest!

A heart the size of a fist can pump blood throughout the body without getting tired.

Just like breathing and heartbeat, you should naturally integrate the application of force and the absorption of force.

Too slow, too slow! When will you learn the technique of "loosening and tightening"? Do you think you can fight against evil spirits like this? ! "

"Uh..." Although he was naturally dissatisfied in his heart, Jiang Liu said nothing. He just gritted his teeth and started swinging the stick again. Feng mocked him from the side, but he never stopped or gave up.

To be fair, his talent is not actually top-notch.

He is not the kind of experiential genius who can learn something after being taught once, or who "just does it naturally with his body". At most, he is more persistent and willing to think more than the average person.

No matter what the skill was, he had to engrave it deeply into his body to form muscle memory, and he would not feel at ease until his "actions were faster than his brain", which made his practice volume quite exaggerated.

If it weren't for the "composite divinity" that transformed his physique, giving him extraordinary endurance and recovery ability, this kind of thing would have ruined his body long ago.

However, it was this stubbornness that allowed Jiang Liu to persist in Feng's special training.

However, there are some things that cannot be learned by increasing the amount of training: looseness and tightness - these are the force techniques mentioned in Fengkou.

She had demonstrated it to Jiang Liu in person. Although she was not very tall and strong, she could actually split rocks that were more than a person's height. Moreover, she could fire several strikes in a breath, and each strike had the same power.

The force should not be exerted by using muscles brutely, but should be as natural as the beating of the heart...but Jiang Liu could not learn this no matter what.

Ninja's footwork, breath-holding techniques, throwing, lurking, jumping - even if he mastered all of them one by one, Jiang Liu still could not learn these seemingly simple force-generating techniques.

The harder I tried to learn, the more I forced my body, and the more vague that "feeling" became.

The wooden sticks that were swung in the air were gradually replaced with metal sticks of the same length. The starting point of the cross-country race was changed from the mountainside to near the top of the mountain. The weight carried during swimming became heavier and heavier. The breath-holding training lasted so long that it made people suspect that it was an attempt on their life...

During the long period of practice, Jiang Liu could feel that his body was becoming more and more agile, solid, and powerful, but he was increasingly unable to understand the meaning of "exerting force."

In five months, Jiang Liu's extraordinary physique allowed him to complete all of Feng's "basic training", and his physical fitness also leapt to a level that was previously unimaginable, except for the "exerting strength" item.

“You pursue the absoluteness and rationality of power too much, but sometimes the beast-like touch is also very important.”

The heavy snow in winter covered the training ground in the forest. A woman in black, with red hair and one eye stood on the white land, raising her arms towards the river.

bass!

The silver light swirled and fell in front of the boy, plunging into the white snow.

It was an ordinary samurai sword without too many decorations, with only the hilt tied with a red rope. It was also the first real sword Jiang Liu had seen in these five months.

"I'm an experiential person. To be honest, I'm not very good at theory, so my training methods are pretty rough. It's really rare that you can survive. However, there's one thing you can't get through training - wildness."

The red-haired woman who had been Jiang Liu's teacher for five months drew out another long knife, and the tip of the knife made a soft hum as it scraped through the cold wind.

"So let me kill you!"

Chapter 13: Snow and Blood

If possible, I also want to be a gentle, tolerant, patient and kind teacher - Feng thought in his heart.

Don't be fooled by her current appearance. Her image in the Demon Slayer Corps was quite good before. She was reliable as a comrade and gentle as a senior.

This was her first time being a teacher, and if possible she wanted to build a healthy and harmonious master-disciple relationship...but this was impossible!

Under normal circumstances, training a swordsman, and "cultivating him to a certain level", would take two or three years, which is considered very fast, but she simply doesn't have that much time!

She had to continue to oppress Jiang Liu, even in a way that was almost punishing... because if she used normal methods, she would definitely not be able to hold on to the end.

Before that, at least all the sword skills must be passed down... The breathing method is something that has been passed down in the last three or four generations, but the sword skills are a true family inheritance.

Then, after teaching him all the techniques...she hoped for an ending without regrets.

Therefore——

This woman means business.

Let me kill you—Jiang Liu was very sure that Feng said this with murderous intent.

This doesn't mean that Feng is determined to kill him no matter what, but he is giving Jiang Liu the final training with the awareness of "even killing people".

If he can pass, Jiang Liu can learn the real breathing method and ghost-slaying sword technique. If he fails... the best result is to be chopped half to death.

(Although he did not formally learn the breathing method of Feng's school, he had actually taught Jiang Liu the basic skills of breathing and swordsmanship during his daily ninjutsu training and physical exercises.

The so-called "loose and tight" realm is actually the technique of Feng's breathing school. Only when the realm is broken through can the specific moves be perfectly mastered. It can be regarded as teaching sword moves, but Jiang Liu did not realize it.)

During the nearly half a year of practice, Jiang Liu's mental power has made great progress. Although it is not as powerful as mind reading, it is still easy to judge whether a person's murderous intent is real or fake.

And he came to the conclusion that Feng was definitely not acting.

She was very clear about Jiang Liu's current strength, and knew that if there was any "false" element, it would be difficult for Jiang Liu to truly experience the reality of battle, let alone a breakthrough.

Therefore, she would force Jiang Liu into a dead end without mercy, cut off his last bit of rationality, and force him to awaken the beast's fighting instinct. Only instinct can free the rationalist Jiang Liu from the shackles!

Your growth over the past five months has astonished me... and disturbed me.

——Without saying a word, he pointed the tip of the knife at Jiang Liu, Feng’s eyes calm.

'It's really too fast. Even a genius that appears once every fifty years would need three years to practice. I really don't have that much time, so I arranged such a random training...but you completed it.

You lost consciousness countless times, fainted from exhaustion, and broke bones - but you kept standing up as if you were immortal, and the growth of your physical abilities was visibly visible to the naked eye.

Every failure makes you stronger and brings you closer to your goal.

This is no longer something that can be explained by the word "talent". You are simply...'

"You know what, Jiang Liu?" Feng suddenly said, "When you couldn't learn the force technique no matter what, besides being angry, I was secretly relieved."

"what?"

Just as he was about to pick up the red-rope samurai sword, Jiang Liu was stunned when he heard these words.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing." Feng's eyes were gloomy. "I just realized that you also have limits, and I feel relieved that you are just a human being..."

呲——

The blade cut through the cold wind, making a short and sharp hiss. The moment the murderous intent swept across Jiang Liu's body, a ruthless blow came down.

"Well!"

Jiang Liu only had time to draw his knife, and the scattered snowflakes barely blocked the sharp blade.

"So fast!"

The boy's pupils suddenly shrank, and the red hair swaying like a flame was reflected in his dark pupils.

"Is this really the speed a human can achieve?!"

It almost exceeded the limit of dynamic vision capture, and it was impossible to hear footsteps, and there was no detection of any signs before the attack came.

From the leisurely state without any preparation for battle to the fierce blow that could kill Shura, the change between movement and stillness seemed to have no gap for this woman Feng.

Although it was soft snow, she seemed to be unhindered. The speed she displayed at this moment was beyond the reach of even professional sprinters on a flat track. It could even be said to be an inhuman performance.

"Where are you looking? You'll die if you get distracted!"

The blade came again, and Jiang Liu concentrated on responding. He swung the long sword in his hand horizontally in time, making the cold blow create hot sparks and pass in front of him.

"What's so strange about that? There are countless ghosts with speeds faster than this. If your eyes and body can't even keep up with this, then you don't have the qualifications to be a ghost hunter!"

The red-haired heroine shouted angrily and suddenly hit Jiang Liu's unprotected chest and abdomen with her left fist. The sudden impact made him feel a surge of energy rushing into his body, and his body was knocked back several steps and almost fell down.

Before he could regroup, cold sword lights came at him one after another. Jiang Liu took a decisive step forward. Instead of fleeing in a panic, he took the initiative to meet them, and the long sword in his hand collided with Feng's murderous blow.

"Chong-"

The clear sound of swords and halberds rang out, and Jiang Liu, who had been suppressed from the beginning, finally had his first real confrontation with his teacher.

"Wow... Good judgment." Feng laughed softly, "If you choose to continue dodging, you will not have the chance to fight back until you die."

Jiang Liu had a resolute expression and didn't dare to speak. He just focused all his attention on the battle and locked onto Feng's every move.

Different from the exciting fights seen in animations or movies in previous lives, battles in reality are much simpler and more boring, and there are rarely situations where "one side is hard to tell who is the winner".

Skill, strength, courage, mentality, timing - any tiny gap will become a fatal weakness in actual combat.