Thunder Breathing

The **Thunder Breathing** *(Kaminari no Kokyu)* is one of the five main Breathing Styles directly derived from Sun Breathing.

## **Overview:**

Thunder Breathing is a Breathing Style that mimics lightning, specifically swift strikes and movements akin to lightning ripping through the sky, and replicates it with the user's movements, techniques and abilities. Most, if not all, known techniques and forms involve utilizing blinding speeds and immensely fast attacks to overwhelm the enemy in an instant. Users of Thunder Breathing also produce the aura of lightning, while also unleashing a powerful roar with their techniques.

This Breathing Style focuses on channeling strength into the user's legs, and maximizing the output of every single muscle and blood vessel in them. This Breathing Style is also very reminiscent of a swordsmanship style practiced and utilized in real life known as Iaijutsu, a famous quick-draw sword technique.

This Breathing Style was created by Raijun Kaminari, one of Yoriichi Tsugikuni's students who attempted to learn Sun Breathing, but found the Style to be unfit of his body, developing the Thunder Breathing instead.

A Thunder Breathing user will have their Nichirin items grow yellow, and form cracks, and this Style can be performed with a Katana.

## **Known Techniques:**

The Thunder Breathing, at its inception, only had five techniques, and with time, the Sixth Form was added. The Seventh Form onward were all developed by Zenitsu Agatsuma

* **First Form: Thunderclap and Flash** *(Ichi no Kata: Hekireki Issen)* - The user unsheathes their katana, dashes forward at blinding speeds and decapitates their opponent faster than they can react, before sheathing it back. This versatile Form can be used multiple times in succession, up to eight times.

* **Second Form: Rice Spirit** *(Ni no Kata: Inadama)* - The user releases an uninterrupted series of five arched slashes in quick succession. This attack possesses great range and speed, the slashes can be done at any chosen angle, giving the user the option to go around or destroy the opponent's defences.

* **Third Form: Thunder Swarm** *(San no Kata: Shubun Seirai)* - The user jumps up in a wave-like motion, surrounding the foe with continuous, incredibly long-ranged slashes from every single direction.

* **Fourth Form: Distant Thunder** *(Shi no Kata: Enrai)* - The user draws their blade, slashing all around themselves in a defensive motion, proceeding to dash while slashing in a manner similar to the First Form. While more defensive, this form is slower and less accurate than Thunderclap and Flash.

* **Fifth Form: Heat Lightning** *(Go no Kata: Netsu Kairai)* - The user unleashes a quick, long ranged upwards slash, causing immense damage. This attack is incredibly heavy, despite its speed. The user can utilize the momentum to avoid any other attacks around themselves, or to increase the attack's strength.

* **Sixth Form: Rumble and Flash** *(Roku no Kata: Dengo Raigo)* - The user unleashes continuous slashes mimicking the previous forms, combining their attacks into a chaotic vortex of attacks that devastates what it crosses, using dashes and slashes to strike all around themselves, the user turning into a storm itself.

* **Seventh Form: Flaming Thunder God** *(Shichi no Kata: Honoikazuchi no Kami)* - The user dashes forward at blinding speeds and unleashes a singular forward slash at a low stance. This technique, much like the Water Breathing's Eleventh Form, is technically part of the official Forms, but only its creator, Zenitsu Agatsuma, has been able to perform it.

* **Eighth Form: Lightning's Ground** *(Hachi no Kata: Inazuma no Jimen)* - The user will lunge, slashing downwards. This can be done from high ground for increased power using momentum and gravity itself. This move works best as a stealthy maneuver, to catch the opponent off-guard, as it is a nearly unblockable move, albeit easy to dodge.

* **Ninth Form: Lightning Burst** *(Ku no Kata: Renzokukiri Harai)* - The user unsheathes their blade and performs three arching horizontal slashes at blinding speeds in quick succession. This technique is reminiscent of the Sixth Form, but is meant to be used as a quick guard over an offensive move

* **Tenth Form: Ball of Lightning** *(Ju no Kata: Inazuma no Tama)* - The user slashes all around themselves in a defensive move, or as a counter to multiple targets at once, in every direction. This move is, much like the others, an improvement upon previous forms.

* **Eleventh Form: Stinging Thunder** *(Ju Ichi no Kata: Kaminari Tsuretsu)* - The user continuously jabs the opponent from afar, delivering powerful thrusts that stun and push the opponent off-balance at incredible speeds, imperceptible to the eye

## **Trivia:**

* The Thunder Breathing is the only Style with a Pillar that did not take a title equal to the Style's name. That is Jigoro Kuwajima, who was known as the Rumble Pillar, rather than the Thunder Pillar.
* The **First Form: Thunderclap and Flash** is stated to be the basis for all the other forms
* The naming of **Second Form: Rice Spirit** is based on a belief in Japan that when a rice field is hit by lightning, it assures a bountiful harvest and fertilizes the rice plants in the area.