"What do you think of your current training routine?" Zhang Yu suddenly asked after he return from throwing the stick to the nearest trash can. The young boy was surprised by the question but nonetheless, "Uh, it's manageable?" Izuku hesitantly replied.
"Be honest with me."
Izuku cast his eyes downward to the ground and was silent for a moment. Then as if he finally decides something, he truthfully answers, "... it's hard, no, torturous even. I feel like dying with all the sore muscles on my body, especially on my calves—though, I think it is most likely because I haven't exercised in a while. I mean...I don't want to disappoint Allmight, he believes in me. Everyone always mocked me for my dream, but of them all, only he tells me that I can be a hero like anyone else. That means a lot to me."
He became teary when he recalled that day—the day when the hero he admires stated that he can also be a hero. If it had been anyone else, it might not be as impactful as it was.
"I don't hate a hard-working kid like you, but you must know that your body also has its limit. And just a while ago, if it wasn't for me, it's very highly likely that you would faint only a few steps more. You need to do it in moderation, otherwise it will bite you in the back later on. Think of it like this, if people keep increasing the weight on top of the wooden table, eventually it will reach its weight limit and fall apart right?"
"But unlike the table where you can rebuild it again, if your body break, you might not necessarily be able to heal everything back to it was before, it was bound to have some other side effect—which is will be an inconvenience for you one way or another. That's just how a human body works." Izuku listens quietly. Although he understood it in his heart that everything that was said is nothing but the truth, his face said otherwise. He is quite stubborn, just like a certain someone.
"That's why I will be teaching you a breathing technique."
"Breathing Technique?" It piqued his interest immediately. He had always been curious about the term 'Cultivator.' When he browse the internet, unfortunately, most of the results only showed the meaning of the word as a farmer who 'cultivates' the field. Though, the result changed when he added martial art.
A cultivator is a person who trains in martial & mystical arts, generally in order to become powerful and increase their longevity, or at least that's what the explanation was in the Chinese culture. It was often found in a 'Wuxia,' a Chinese fictional novel featuring itinerant warriors of ancient China, often depicted as capable of superhuman feats of martial arts. So when Zhang Yu introduced himself as a Martial Artist, he wasn't lying. Does that mean he was older than his appearance suggests? That was the first thing Izuku thought when he read the explanation.
Even Allmight didn't know much when asked. And now, someone who claimed to be a person that has fictional power is going to teach him something, how could he not be excited?
"Yes, in a normal case, no one really cares as they take breathing for granted. From birth, anyone can already inhale and exhale like their second nature after all. But if one consciously controls their breathing like a rhythm in a certain way, you can do much more than average people. For example," he suddenly stood up and put up a horse stance with his eyes shut. He then slowly inhales and exhales in a strange manner. Although Izuku was perplexed by the current development, he still locked his eyes on the figure without blinking as if afraid if he blinked, he will miss it.
Abruptly, Zhang Yu opened his eyes and Izuku could tell something was different with him. Without any word, he ball up his fist and hurl it toward the ground. Just as the young boy thought he will wince in pain when the fist hit the ground, the opposite happened, the ground simply shattered upon impact and spread like a spider web a few meters away. It was honestly a stunning sight.
He couldn't believe someone so thin could cause such big damage to the ground with a single punch. If that had been a human, Izuku couldn't imagine what would have become of them.
"And there you go. Although I restrained my strength by quite a lot, it still caused this much damage huh?" Zhang Yu mumbles while staring at the aftermath. He then turns toward Izuku as the latter flinches, "you won't be able to do the same as it also takes a toll on the body, though I'm fine. But you can still pull out some strength, at least strong enough to put an adult unconscious. Also, there's a special touch required, so even if you tried to teach the technique to other people, they won't be able to learn It without my permission."
"I won't do something like that!"
"Knowing your personality, it's highly unlikely but you never know. There might be a quirk out there that can extract information out of your brain, it never hurts to be careful," he recalled there's a villain with more than one quirk exists, but he couldn't quite recall the name of the said villain. If One-for-All user could use more than one quirk, there's a very high chance of others being able to do the same, especially the villain. He mustn't forget that this is after all a fictional story. Anything could happen.
He shook his head to remove the thought out of his head and turn his attention back to reality, "So, do you want to learn it, Kid?"
"Yes please!" He didn't take a moment to hesitate and immediately agree when asked. Zhang Yu smiles. There was something that he didn't tell the kid, and that is—it wasn't really a breathing technique, it was only disguised as one. It's actually a cultivation technique, although a low-rank one. As for the special touch he mentioned, unless they were genius, they won't be able to learn it without the ability to sense Qi in the atmosphere.
He didn't plan to teach Izuku at first, but after seeing his figure tirelessly running in the park despite the exhaustion, he could see a young version of himself overlapping with the young Izuku. Let's just say, it was on a whim that he decided to pass down some of his knowledge.
Thanks for the chapter and NO:>