Author Note: Yo! A new chapter is here. hope you like it.

Chapter Six: Intense Training

Sakonji trained Tanjiro very hard— very, very hard. Of course, these are nothing in front of Gai-sensei's training. Despite being a skilled and experienced warrior, Naruto's sword skills were of no use against this old man.

Much to the protest of Tanjiro, Sakonji first of all gave him history lessons. Then he explained the breathing styles and their origin— the Sun Breathing Technique. Sakonji taught him how to grip a blade in the perfect way as well as how to hold it.

Sakonji gave him a scroll containing the Water Breathing Techniques. It was a blue chequered black coloured scroll with a wooden roll. Tanjiro memorised it within a month.

Water Breathing Techniques by Sakonji Urokodaki

First Form: Water Surface Slash: The user releases a singular-horizontal slash aiming to decapitate their target.

Second Form: Water Wheel: The user leaps forward into the air and performs a front flip, releasing a singular vertical slash in a circular motion.

Second Form: Improved, Lateral Water Wheel: An alternate variation of Second Form: Water Wheel created by that unleashes a horizontal spin instead of a vertical one. Tanjiro developed it all by himself.

Third Form: Flowing Dance: The user swings and bends their blade in a winding motion along with their body and dances in a flowing pattern, slicing everything in its path.

Fourth Form: Striking Tide: The user performs a multitude of slashes in a flowing fashion to release multiple consecutive slashes.

Fifth Form: Blessed Rain After the Drought: The user changes the grip on their sword and decapitates the opponent in a single flowing strike that causes little to no pain. It is a "sword strike of kindness" used when the enemy willingly surrenders.

Sixth Form: Whirlpool: The user twists their body, using their blade to perform a fierce whirling motion which generates a whirlpool of air to shred apart anything caught within its current like a giant sharp blade. Its effect and efficiency is enhanced underwater, where the user can draw water around their weapon to create whirling currents that enhance their slashes.

Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust: The user performs a precise, fast and accurate thrust with their blade.

Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin: The user cuts the target vertically in a flowing motion which is most effective when they are falling downward.

Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow, Turbulent: The user changes their footwork in a way that minimises the landing time and surface needed when landing, allowing the user to move without limits. Ideal when fighting in a place with no solid foothold.

Tenth Form: Constant Flux: The user charges toward the target whilst performing a continuous flowing attack with their blade which increases in strength and speed over time using momentum.

Eleventh Form: Dead Calm The personal creation of the current Water Hashira, Giyu Tomioka. The user ceases all body movements and enters a state of complete tranquillity, deflecting, blocking and cutting any incoming attacks with imperceptible speed with their blade. However, its effectiveness is limited as fast and numerous attacks can break through.

Never hesitate to create your own techniques. If you ever create any, I will be glad to add them here.

The old man taught Tanjiro how he could increase his lung capacity without using Chakra. According to Sakonji, lung capacity was vital for Breathing Techniques. In water, Tanjiro can hold his breath for two minutes without moving. But when he is moving, the time drops down to half a minute.

Speaking of Sakonji Urokodaki, the man was quite straightforward. Despite never seeing his face, Tanjiro firmly believed that the man kept a strict look on his face. The former Water Hashira never once showed Tanjiro his face. Whenever they ate together, the man would simply lift the bottom of his mask and use chopsticks to supply food in his mouth.

The exercises Tanjiro had to undergo were simple yet extremely difficult. Swinging sword for a thousand times a day, feeling the water as a part of you by standing under a waterfall and the list went on and on. Urokodaki threatened him that if Tanjiro damaged the katana even a little bit, he would break every single bone in his body...

Tanjiro hopes he will not die at the end of his training with the old man.

Naruto no longer had the fit and strong muscular body he once had. Naruto was very skilled in martial arts, but Tanjiro's juvenile body was having a hard time adjusting to the new memories. And no matter how much effort was made, it was not possible to grow a body like a ninja; Because the body structure of the people of that world is very different from the body structure of the people of this world. That's why Tanjiro regularly tried to increase his physical abilities as much as possible by using Chakra. Much to the relief of Tanjiro, he could still use the Ninja Techniques that Naruto was able to do before. Tanjiro made a list of them:

01/ Shadow Clone Technique.

02/ Multi Shadow Clone Technique.

03/ Rasengan.

04/ Wind Style: Rasengan.

05/ Wind Style: Rasenshuriken.

06/ Inferno Style: Rasengan.

07/ Wind and Fire Combo Style: Inferno Rasenshuriken.

08/ Water Style: Rasengan.

09/ Massive Rasengan.

10/ Super Massive Rasengan.

11/ Massive Rasenshuriken.

12/ Sage Techniques: It gives him unrivalled sensory abilities and unparalleled strength. It also enhances his other techniques' power.

13/ Uzumaki Naruto Barrage.

14/ Henge.

15/ Earth Style: Mud Wall.

16/ Body Flicker Technique.

17/ Substitution Technique.

18/ …A Thousand Years of Death.

19/ …Oiroke-no-Jutsu.

20/ ...Harem-no-Jutsu

21/ …Talk-no-Jutsu

Tanjiro had more techniques but he didn't add them. He was a bit skeptical whether he should include the last three or not in the list, but despite their unconventionalness, they're undoubtedly useful, hence he included them anyway. Kakashi even ranked them each as an A rank Jutsu— except for the final one which was ranked as an S rank forbidden Jutsu...

He didn't possess a thousand techniques in his arsenal like Kakashi or Hiruzen, but he was regarded at a higher level than them. Naruto lived for less than forty years, but didn't learn many Ninja Techniques. However, he didn't need to learn too much as he was a perfectionist when it came to Ninja Arts and could use his techniques to their fullest potential. Although he made many variations of his father's Rasengan after he perfected it.

He occasionally tried to feel the natural energy with his shadow clones by meditating. There is no such thing as Chakra here but there is natural energy. The natural energy here is strong enough, stronger than the Ninja World in fact. The reason why he believed such a thing is easy enough to understand. This world probably has no Chakra users. So, there are no mixtures of multiple types of Chakra. Also, there is no question of having foul Chakra such as Outsutsuki's Chakra, Black and White Zetsu's Chakra, Orochimaru's Cursed Seal's Chakra, Tailed Beasts' demonic Chakra and so on to pollute the nature Chakra to reduce its potential.

He noticed that whenever he activated Sage Mode, instead of toad-like features appearing on his eyes and eyelids, his eyes turned into a glowing scarlet colour along with a beautiful deep blood red sunflower mark (❀) appearing on either side of his eye. It looked pretty cool in his opinion.

The blade had firstly become little more than a blur. Now one could see nothing, simply nothing. Tanjiro's grip muscles were very strong now, he could easily crush a pebble in his hand without any chakra included.

Sakonji humorously dubbed this inhuman strength as: Mountain Crushing Fist. Did the man crack a joke? Yeah, he did. Tanjiro didn't think the man had it in him though.

A Chakra infused punch would be enough to shake a mountain; but not destroy it. He was no Tsunade or Sakura. But, a Rasenshuriken would be more than strong enough to obliterate an entire valley of mountains. Of course no one needed to know that.

Speaking of knowing how much one should learn, he carefully avoided telling others about his more destructive powers. They knew that he could make copies of himself, he had super strength, had super speed, could shapeshift, could manipulate fire, soil, water, air and a little lightning. No one needed to see the full list lest they should faint.

~• •~

Sakonji was very pleased with the boy's progress. At the rate he was training, he would soon be ready for the Final Selection Exam. The boy was cheerful but he couldn't help but notice the obvious pain in his eyes.

The boy worked too much, way too much. It almost seemed like he was trying to keep himself busy.

Urokodaki hoped that the boy's pain would soon be gone.

~• •~

As the year came to an end, Tanjiro decided to visit his family. He asked the old man's permission and he said it was okay. Tanjiro offered Urokodaki to celebrate the new year with him. At first the man didn't want to go, but upon being insisted continuously, he decided that he would go with Tanjiro.

Tanjiro, along with Urokodaki set out for his home and reached there within half a day.

The whole place was filled up with Tanjiro's clones and were helping out the Kamado family in pretty much everything. Some of them even had jobs in the small town below the mountain.

Despite so many Tanjiros around, the Kamado family shared a long family hug with the eldest Kamado sibling. His mother even prepared his favourite food 'ramen', even though the ingredients to make it were quite expensive.

Urokodaki was surprised to see the family welcoming him with respect despite him being an outsider. Although the younger kids made fun of his mask.

Then came the most important and interesting part, 'Hinokami Kagura', which Tanjiro performed from dusk to dawn. The dance was amazing. Urokodaki had heard about it from Tanjiro before, but seeing it live was something else. The odd similarity between the dance and Breathing Techniques didn't fail to catch his attention. He wondered if the Kamado family had some connection with Demon Slayers.

The next day, Tanjiro and Urokodaki agreed that it was high time they returned. The Kamado siblings cried a lot when Tanjiro informed them he will not be back for a few months. But he consoled them that they could communicate with him by his Shadow Clones. His mother was not crying, she was rather… happy for him which was evident from her motherly smile she gave before saying him goodbye.

~• •~

Sakonji, after training Tanjiro for four months, revealed that he had nothing to teach the boy. The final selection is going to be held in two months from now. Students of professional Demon Slayers would go there to take exams. For seven days one must survive in a mountain where there are many demons of various kinds. Whoever survives there for seven days will be given the title of Demon Slayer.

Sakonji told Tanjiro that he would only allow him to participate in the final exam if he can pass his final exam. When asked what kind of test, Sakonji took Tanjiro to a place in the mountain where a huge round stone was kept. The old man told him to cut the boulder in half using a sword but without the help of Chakra. The boy was perplexed for a moment. The task was difficult but not impossible. He accepted the challenge.

Tanjiro Kamado swung the sword.

Tanjiro trained day and night to get the task done. He swung the sword as fast as he could but to no avail. He worked until he fell on his knees and started panting. It took him a month to realise that it was not as easy and it seemed to be at first.

Tanjiro swung the blade once again.

He sweated as he practised, but could not cut the stone. The Naruto part of his mind had never been this tired ever since coming here. Tanjiro's body was not strong enough for him. His stamina was good, but not great. He could do it using Chakra with little effort. By using Sage Mode, he can break the stone effortlessly; but in either case, Chakra would be used.

Tanjiro swung the katana once again.

Finally, not being able to take it anymore, he collapsed on the ground on his knees. He began to breathe heavily.

That is when he heard a voice.

"You seem tired," he looked back, a girl, younger than Nezuko, wearing a bright dress and a fox mask over her head, said. "You are not doing it in the right way."

"Who are you?" The girl was clearly a swordswoman as she had a katana tied to her waist.

"I am Makomo," she smiled. "A student of Urokodaki-sensei."

"Never saw you before. I am Tanjiro Kamado, pleased to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you too, Tanjiro-san." She came close to him. "I see that you are trying to complete sensei's final test."

"It is so difficult… but… what should I do?"

"Hmm… you see him over there?" She pointed towards the woods. Tanjiro looked that way and spotted a boy, hiding his face behind a white fox mask, wearing an orange chequered green haori with a katana tied to his waist.

'How could I not sense him? How could I not sense either of them? Perhaps I am too tired. They don't seem to have any malicious intent anyway. Now that I come to think of it, their aura, it's… so bright. As if they are part of nature. Perhaps they have reached a certain degree of mastery of some kind of stealth art.'

"That's Sabito." The girl said. "He doesn't talk l much."

"I've noticed... how many of you are there?"

"Nineteen."

"How come I have never seen you before?"

"We have our methods." She replied mysteriously. "Anyways, Sabito there wishes to help you train."

"But I don't want to cause you distress."

"Oh, don't worry about it."

"Really? That would be very kind of you!" Tanjiro bowed a perfect ninety degree.

The masked boy came from the shadows and wordlessly brought his sword up and took an offensive stance.

"Let's have an honorable spar, dattebayo!"

~• •~

The fight was anything but honorable. It never was honorable.

In the end of the 'spar', Tanjiro had a few broken ribs along with some serious bruises. The boy didn't pull any of his punches, kicks or attacks. He was a sadistic guy. But The Tanjiro Part was too nice to retort. Instead, every time he would smiled brightly at the masked boy and say, "That was an honorable spar, senpai!"

On their fifteenth day, Tanjiro could notice the masked boy was getting irritated due to the lack of Tanjiro's improvement. "You lack resolve." The masked swordsman spoke for the first time as Tanjiro was again panting heavily on the ground. "You are too weak. Too weak to fight, too easy to die."

"I am sorry to disappoint you, senpai." Tanjiro said sadly between his pants.

"No!" The masked boy suddenly shouted and grabbed Tanjiro by his collar, lifting him a foot above the ground and shouted again. "You fight with your heart when you are out of physical energy. When you don't have a reason to grow, your heart dies as well as your body. Tell me, what is your inspiration? Do you even have one or not?"

"I…" Tanjiro began, this time Naruto Uzumaki took the steering wheel. "I was too weak to be there for my family when they needed me, so I lost them. I don't want to lose my family again."

"Then you have to get stronger. Come on! Show me your resolve."

"Okay senpai," Tanjiro took the legendary Maito Gai stance and quoted a legendary line of Naruto Uzumaki. "I'll show you what a true resolve is."

The spirit felt a shiver down his non-existent spine.

~• •~

The fight was brutal for both sides. Tanjiro used every Water Breathing Technique he learned in order to overwhelm his senpai. But the masked boy had either inhuman stamina, or he was simply way too experienced.

Whenever Tanjiro tried to overpower Sabito, the boy simply vanished. It was odd.

Tanjiro used all the moves he knew, but none of them worked. Finally, seeing no other way, he decided to get unpredictable. He used random moves to overwhelm the older boy. It was ineffective at first, but soon it actually worked.

Sabito, who was using a wooden sword, was gracefully countering all of Naruto's attacks. The masked boy was very fast. Tanjiro used the Third Form, which didn't work. Fourth Form? Didn't work. First Form… 'Wait… that isn't the First Form… he is using the Third Form.' Sabito prepared to counter the attack, only to receive a knee hit on his guts.

That caught Sabito off guard and Tanjiro swung his sword.

The masked boy was shocked as his mask fell on the ground- as two separate parts. Tanjiro saw the boy's face for the first time. He had a stunned expression on his face. The older boy had an old rough wound mark on his right cheek.

"Senpai…" Tanjiro rushed towards him, the older boy had a shocked expression and Tanjiro was worried if he had injured his senpai. But as soon as he reached his senpai, the older boy evaporated in thin air and Tanjiro saw the boulder, which was cleaved in half.

'I did it!' He stiffened. He turned his head to see Makamo smiling and a faint line of smile curved on 's lips who was standing next to Sabito.'Wait! When did he reach there? I guess he is simply too fast.'

"You…" Tanjiro looked back and saw his masked sensei standing. "You did it…"

"Well, I had great help. Thanks to…" Tanjiro began sheepishly.

"I never thought you would be able to do it without Chakra." The old man said as he inspected the stone. "Guess I was wrong."

"Wait… I… never… what does that mean?"

"It seems that it is time I tell you the truth." He began. "I had many students whom I sent to the Final Selection. But they never returned, save for Giyu. I thought by giving you an impossible task to complete, I could still have you alive."

Tanjiro didn't reply. He had none. He could relate such a thing. Pervy Sage, Kakashi...

"But now," Sakonji snapped him out of his thoughts. "I believe in you completely. You are going to triumph, I know it. Tanjiro Kamado, I, Sakonji Urokodaki, as your mentor, nominate you for the Final Selection Exam. May Kami bless you."

"Arigato, sensei!" He was promptly hugged by the overjoyed boy. "I promise you that I won't let you down. I never go back on my word, that is my nindo, my ninja way, dattebayo."

Author Note: The next chapter is coming soon!

Till next time.

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