Tanjiro, lying on the ground, exhausted, began to lose faith in himself.
"Tanjiro, your breathing is too stiff, causing your body to react involuntarily. For half a year, the old man has taught you things, but you've only memorized them in your head. You haven't integrated Water Breathing into your bones. If you don't overcome this, you won't be able to cut the giant stone." Ryuji calmly pointed out Tanjiro's fatal flaw.
Although a year and a half of training had indeed made Tanjiro grow a lot, his body hadn't completely elevated and absorbed what he had learned during training.
Tanjiro's stiff breathing couldn't unleash the full potential of Water Breathing. Attacks launched at this level wouldn't be able to cut the giant stone.
Time passed, and another half a year went by. The world repeated its annual cycle. Winter snowflakes fell into Ryuji's hands. He stood outside the wooden house, looked up at the sky filled with falling snow, and muttered, "It's snowing again! Another year has passed!"
During this year, Sakonji Urokodaki hadn't appeared again. Ryuji took care of everything in the wooden house, and he also took care of Nezuko.
Because after that confrontation, Tanjiro had never left Mount Fujikasane.
So, for the past half a year, Nezuko had been under Ryuji's care. Regularly wiping her body was a necessity, which Ryuji considered a good job.
This way, Ryuji naturally had close contact with Nezuko.
When Tanjiro was around, it was naturally his duty as her brother to do this.
Wiping Nezuko's body wasn't Ryuji deliberately taking advantage of her. It was because if he didn't, she would smell bad.
At first, seeing that Tanjiro hadn't returned to the wooden house, Ryuji, noticing something was wrong, went up the mountain himself to find him. He discovered that Tanjiro was talking to the air near the giant stone, as if he had gone mad.
However, just as Ryuji was about to wake Tanjiro up, he began to swing his sword. Sensing that Tanjiro's movements were no longer stiff and his breathing control had become more fluid, Ryuji felt that Tanjiro might have entered a subconscious state of selflessness. This was a blessing for him.
So, Ryuji chose not to interrupt Tanjiro's blessing and let him completely elevate himself in this blessing.
Unexpectedly, he waited for another half a year. During these six months, Ryuji had also checked on Tanjiro regularly. However, he saw him either practicing swordsmanship or meditating. Sometimes, he was even talking to someone.
The most puzzling time, Ryuji tried to stand in front of him, but Tanjiro seemed to be unable to see him.
Finally, with the system's prompt, Ryuji used his demonic power to activate his demonic eyes and finally figured out Tanjiro's situation. It turned out that the spirits of Mount Fujikasane had locked Tanjiro in a mental world they had created.
From Tanjiro's changes, these spirits should be helping him grow, so Ryuji didn't interfere too much. Instead, he chose to wait quietly.
At this time, Ryuji saw someone walking towards him from afar. He took a closer look and realized it was Sakonji Urokodaki, who had left the wooden house a year ago.
Ryuji looked at Sakonji Urokodaki, who had walked in front of him, and smiled. He said, "You're back, old man."
Sakonji Urokodaki stood in front of Ryuji, looked him over for a while, nodded, and responded, "Hmm, where's Tanjiro?"
____________________
for more advance chapter's visit my p@treon.
[email protected]/kane45