Chapter 561: The Founder of Breathing Techniques Across the Multiverse

After writing everything down, Hoshigaki Nanami continued observing Kakashi and the others.

As mentioned before, the area they were currently using was still an undeveloped stretch of open land.

The actual tourist district was next door.

So as long as the Konoha shinobi did not carry their madness over into the resort area, whatever they did here could simply be ignored.

The only Kirigakure shinobi present were Nanami, Ao, Kurosuki Raiga, and Chōjūrō.

Ao's confession to Kakashi had already exposed him.

Raiga might technically have a wife he had not seen in who knew how many years, but he was obviously much more attached to the pretty boy Ranmaru.

That left only Chōjūrō and Nanami.

And both of them were decent, responsible people who had proactively reported the situation to Terumī Mei.

As long as they communicated carefully and kept themselves under control, everything should be fine.

"Would you two stop fighting? How about this?"

Kakashi created two shadow clones and handed one to Shira and one to Might Guy.

Then he gave his clones a simple instruction.

"Sorry, but keep them entertained for a while."

The real Kakashi immediately sat down with a book in one hand and the monitoring screen in the other, simultaneously reading a novel and binge-watching Obito's adventures inside Engraved Tsukuyomi.

Shira and Guy both fell silent.

Guy glanced toward Shira.

Shira nodded, accepting the arrangement.

So Guy nodded too.

The truth was, Guy had not actually gained any new taijutsu inspiration over the past few days.

He had simply continued his usual physical training.

The real reason he was so worked up was that another taijutsu specialist had suddenly appeared beside Kakashi—one who even possessed a technique similar to the Eight Gates, allowing him to temporarily push his body beyond its normal limits.

Guy was worried Shira might steal Kakashi away from him.

One of the movies he had watched recently had apparently explained this phenomenon.

According to Tenten's summary, it was called:

The childhood friend always loses to the newcomer.

So now that Guy had been given his very own Kakashi shadow clone, he had absolutely no idea what to do with it.

Naturally, he looked toward Shira first.

Whatever Shira did, Guy could simply copy.

Shira, however, was completely sincere.

In another world, Kakashi's voice belonged to Tsugikuni Yoriichi, the founder of Breathing Styles—the equivalent of an Asura-and-Indra-level figure in the world of Demon Slayer.

And in yet another world, that same voice belonged to Kars, the Ultimate Life Form and greatest master of Ripple breathing—the JoJo world's equivalent of a Six Paths Obito.

Shira knew nothing about other worlds.

Under the influence of Heaven's Will, all he could feel was that Kakashi somehow represented the source of inspiration he needed to advance his own breathing method.

He still had not grasped that flash of inspiration.

But whenever he stayed near Kakashi, something inside him stirred.

And until a shadow clone was destroyed, it was practically indistinguishable from the original.

Nanami and Chōjūrō might already have concluded that Shira and Kakashi were neck-deep in some suspicious relationship, but Shira genuinely had no romantic interest in Kakashi whatsoever.

He simply wanted progress—

No.

He wanted strength.

And Kakashi was his opportunity to become stronger.

So Shira had absolutely no intention of doing anything that would pop Kakashi's shadow clone.

"Kakashi, please. Let's try it this way first."

Shira pressed his palms together and earnestly requested the shadow clone's cooperation.

"This… doesn't seem like a great idea."

Kakashi's clone looked uncomfortable.

"But your original already agreed."

"…Fine."

The shadow clone surrendered.

Whatever.

He was only a clone.

Even if something strange happened, the original Kakashi would be the one stuck receiving the memories afterward.

Not his problem.

So according to Shira's instructions, once Shira closed his eyes and sat down to meditate, Kakashi's clone walked closer.

Then closer still.

Warm breaths began brushing past Shira's ear.

Listening to the steady rhythm of Kakashi's breathing, the vague sensation inside Shira grew increasingly intense.

Good grief.

Kakashi had somehow become Shira's personal ASMR recording.

Meanwhile, Guy watched the entire process from the other side—

And somehow genuinely understood Shira's logic.

Shira practiced the Seven Heavens Breathing Method.

His technique relied heavily on the lungs.

So naturally, he needed Kakashi's breathing.

Then what did the Eight Gates rely on?

The heart for the Eighth Gate?

Sweat for the Seventh?

Guy thought about it for a while.

Then he took his own Kakashi clone and started running laps around the area.

The shadow clone did not object.

Compared with the version of him whisper-breathing into Shira's ear next door, running a few laps was practically a blessing.

Besides, exercise like this was completely normal for Might Guy.

Guy and Lee could somehow connect almost any situation in existence to physical training.

However…

After several laps, Guy suddenly pulled out a few pieces of "cloth" and enthusiastically began wiping the sweat from Kakashi's clone.

The clone froze.

He was only a shadow clone.

If he got tired, he could just dispel himself.

Why was Guy suddenly being so attentive and wiping his sweat for him?

Something about this was making his skin crawl.

"Wait, Guy."

Kakashi's clone suddenly noticed something strange about the material being used.

The color was wrong.

That deep green.

And the texture he had just felt against his skin…

"Guy, what exactly are you wiping me with?"

"Oh, don't worry, Kakashi! It's clean!"

Guy proudly held it up.

"This is spare clothing I brought with me. I haven't worn it yet.

"You know how good these bodysuits are at absorbing sweat while staying breathable. They're made from top-quality material, so I figured they'd work perfectly as towels!"

Guy now held a green bodysuit thoroughly soaked with Kakashi's sweat.

Then he turned and looked toward Shira.

He needed to see what the next step was.

"…"

Watching all of this from the shadows, Hoshigaki Nanami had completely lost hope.

These Konoha people were beyond ordinary gay-type ninja now.

They were outright freaks.

Lee was watching too, but he saw absolutely nothing strange.

He stared excitedly between the two sides of the "competition," desperately wanting to cheer for his teacher but afraid that making noise might disturb them.

As for Tenten…

She was gone.

Perhaps she had been too ashamed to remain anywhere near Might Guy and had gone off to hide somewhere.

Nanami, despite being assigned to monitor the Konoha visitors, had not even noticed Tenten leave.

"Ah! Ah! Why?! Why won't it come?! Agh!"

Over on Shira's side, after listening to Kakashi's ASMR for quite some time, he could feel himself reaching the very edge of some breakthrough.

Yet the inspiration simply refused to emerge.

Frustration mounted until Shira was sitting there with his eyes squeezed shut, openly groaning in irritation.

Finally, completely fed up, Shira abruptly opened his eyes.

He spun toward Kakashi.

Then lunged forward—

"I'm back from the resort! I brought ice cream for everyone! Who wants—"

Tenten returned holding a tray piled high with scoops of ice cream.

And happened to arrive at exactly that moment.

Driven to desperation, Shira had decided that if simply listening to Kakashi breathe was not enough, then he would force himself to take in Kakashi's entire breath directly.

Which meant…

In a certain sense—

Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Pop.

Whether Kakashi's shadow clone mentally collapsed or Shira simply inhaled hard enough to pop him, the clone vanished on the spot.

"AAAAH! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"

Inside the beach tent, the real Kakashi—who had been happily reading his novel and watching his show—suddenly received the clone's memories and screamed.

"You went to the tourist district?"

Nanami stepped forward and caught the tray just before a stunned Tenten dropped it.

Then she gave her an approving look.

"Well, never mind. You seem normal.

"I didn't expect Konoha to still have normal shinobi."

At that exact moment, Might Guy saw what Shira had done.

Having finally received his cue, Guy immediately began preparing to copy the next step.