Beast Breathing is a Breathing Style that mimics beasts/wild animals, specifically their unpredictable, ferocious and wild nature, including movements, attacks and senses, and replicates it with the user's movements, techniques and abilities. Most, if not all, known techniques and forms are simple, straight-forward yet wild, unpredictable and animalistic movements and attacks, although one of them utilizes the powerful sense of touch to replicate an animal's primal senses. Users of Beast Breathing also visualize themselves seemingly manifesting the fangs and claw slashes of a wild animal when unleashing its techniques.
Since this Breathing Style is personally created and self-taught by Inosuke Hashibira after living in the mountains and fighting for survival, it can be assumed that it can only be utilized by someone with dual Nichirin katanas and an extremely acute sense of touch.
Beast Breathing has ten known techniques with an improvisation technique created during Inosuke's fight withDoma. Unlike other Breathing techniques, only supplement moves are called "Forms", as assaulting Beast Breathing moves are called "Fangs" instead.
First Fang: Pierce (壱ノ牙穿ち抜き,Ichi no kiba: Ugachi Nuki?)[1] - The user stabs the target's neck with both blades.
Second Fang: Slice (弐ノ牙切り裂き,Ni no kiba: Kirisaki?)[2] - The user unleashes a double slash with two blades in an X-shaped cut.
Third Fang: Devour (参ノ牙喰い裂き,San no kiba: Kuizaki?)[3] - The user releases two simultaneous horizontal slashes towards the target's throat to decapitate them.
Fourth Fang: Slice 'n' Dice (肆ノ牙切細裂き,Shi no kiba: Kiri Komazaki?)[4] - The user delivers multiple diagonal double slashes with both swords.
Fifth Fang: Crazy Cutting (伍ノ牙狂い裂き,Go no kiba: Kuruizaki?)[5] - The user slices everything in all directions while in mid-air.
Sixth Fang: Palisade Bite (陸ノ牙乱杭咬み,Roku no kiba: Ranguigami?)[6] - The user releases simultaneous slashes with two swords from both directions in a saw-like movement.
Seventh Form: Spatial Awareness (漆ノ型空間識覚,Shichi no kata: Kūkan Shikikaku?)[7] - The user utilizes their sense of touch to identify the position of enemies and their weaknesses by feeling small disturbances in the air. This technique was so strong that Inosuke Hashibira could sense all the demons spread out through a whole mountain.
Eighth Form: Explosive Rush (捌ノ型爆裂猛進,Hachi no kata: Bakuretsu Mōshin?)[8] - The user charges towards their opponent at blinding speeds, ignoring all incoming attacks.
Ninth Fang: Extending Bendy Slash (玖ノ牙伸・うねり裂き,Ku no kiba: Shin - Unerizaki?)[9] - The user dislocates the joints of their arm to increase the range of their attack, and then unleashing a fast swinging forward strike.
Tenth Fang: Whirling Fangs (拾ノ牙円転旋牙,Jū no kiba: Enten Senga?)[10] - The user rapidly spins their swords in a circular motion, deflecting enemy attacks such as projectiles.
Eleventh Fang: Sudden Throwing Strike (思いつきの投げ裂き,Omoitsuki no Nagesaki?)[11] - The user throws both of their blades in a spinning motion at an enemy.
Game Exclusive Techniques[]
Boar Rush (猪突猛進,Chototsu Mōshin?)[12] - The user relentlessly charges towards their opponent ignoring practically all attacks thrown at them.
Third Fang: Devour Rush (参ノ牙猛進・喰い裂き,San no kiba: Mōshin - Kuizaki?)[12] - The user rushes towards their opponent and stabs them with both blades, dragging them along the ground with their momentum. They then turn and throw them high up into the air, readying the Third Fang: Devour as they slice them in an X-like pattern above them at the falling opponent.
Sixth Fang: Palisade Bite, Feral Rush (陸ノ牙乱杭咬み・爆進,Roku no kiba: Ranguigami - Bakushin?)[12] - The user performs a charging headbutt at the opponent to knock them away then uses Eighth Form: Explosive Rush to close the distance between them, followed up with Sixth Fang: Palisade Bite and a few more slashes to top it off.
In the manga, whenever a Beast Breathing user performs their techniques, they visualize themselves creating slashes that are bright gray in color with a black outline. However in the anime, the slashes are bright white fading to light blue in color with the same black outlines instead.
In the manga, Second Fang: Slice creates an actual X-shaped cut whereas in the video game and anime, they don't and instead creates two overhead slashes as Inosuke seems to perform the technique in a similar fashion as Sound Breathing's First Form: Roar.
