Insect Breathing is a Breathing Style that mimics insects, specifically their lethal stings and movements, and replicates it with user's movements, techniques and abilities. Most, if not all, known techniques and forms include stabbing, thrusting, and making shallow cuts with a specially coated/made sword to inflict multiple wounds onto the intended target in order to inject various lethal wisteria-based poisons into them. Users of Insect Breathing also visualize themselves seemingly manifesting insects, or taking the form of an insect when unleashing its techniques, corresponding to the exact form used.[2].
This Breathing Style is the personal creation of Shinobu Kocho, who designed it to compensate for her lack of physical strength to behead a demon.[3] Hence, this sword style can only be utilized by her and only using a unique katana with a needle-like tip, resembling an insect's stinger in appearance and function. The "stinger" is designed for injection of Wisteria poison into demons. As noted by Doma, the blade sheath was also designed as a portable poison mixer, allowing Shinobu to change the poison that coats her blade at a moment's notice.
Insect Breathing has 5 known techniques and forms at minimum.
Butterfly Dance: Caprice (蝶ノ舞戯れ,Chō no mai: Tawamure?)[4] - The user leaps into the air and charges towards the opponent, stinging them multiple times with their blade to inject poison in just seemingly one strike.
Dance of the Bee Sting: True Flutter (蜂牙ノ舞真靡き,Hōga no mai: Madabiki?)[5] - The user dashes at their target at blinding speeds and uses the momentum of their speed to then strengthen a single thrust into their opponent and inject poison into them.
Dance of the Horsefly: Enticing Slash (虻咬ノ舞切裂の誘い,Mōka no mai: Sessaku no Sasoi?)[2] The user leaps off a vertical surface and delivers a forward thrust toward their opponent, before surrounding them with a confusing swarm of stabs from all sides. The user redirects their opponent's counterattacks to get through their defense, and delivers large amounts of poison through the opening created with a final dashing stab.
Dance of the Dragonfly: Compound Eye Hexagon (蜻蛉ノ舞複眼六角,Seirei no mai: Fukugan Rokkaku?)[6] - The user rushes forward and unleashing six rapid, powerful thrusts, aiming to strike and inject their target with multiple doses of poison at the target's weak spots (such as the neck, heart, torso, etc.) in order to kill them with a large dose of poison.
Dance of the Centipede: Hundred-Legged Zigzag (蜈蚣ノ舞百足蛇腹,Gokō no mai: Hyakusoku Jabara?)[7] - The user uses their full speed to run a zigzag pattern that confuses their opponent in order to create an opening for them to directly stab their opponent's neck and inject poison to kill them, with the stab's force and power being further enhanced by the momentum of their speed. Doma noted that the sheer speed and footwork of this technique is strong enough to destroy an entire wooden bridge.
Game Exclusive Techniques[]
Butterfly Dance: Caprice, Illusory Light (蝶ノ舞戯れ・幻光,Chō no mai: Tawamure - Genkō?)[8] - The user lunges at their opponent before unleashing a barrage of straight short thrusts with their sword, ending with one powerful thrust that launches their opponent away and onto their back. The user then leaps into the air while transforming into a gigantic butterfly of light, before diving from it and stabbing their blade straight through their opponent and into the ground, cracking the surrounding terrain and creating a massive crater in its wake.
Butterfly Dance: Caprice, Fluorescence (蝶ノ舞 "戯れ"・燐光,Chō no mai: Tawamure - Rinkō?)[9] - The user kicks their opponent upwards and uses blades hidden in their sandals to slash them mid-air, before kicking them downwards. The user then performs Butterfly Dance while homing in on the opponent from above, although instead of a single strike, it’s a constant barrage of poisonous thrusts from all directions, so fast it forms into a ball of energy and erupts into a double-helix shape consisting of butterflies.
Sixfold Thrust (六連突き,Rokuren Tsuki?)[8] - The user unleashes five short but very quick thrusts towards their opponent, before briefly pausing and then unleashing a sixth, more powerful thrust.
Swift Thrust (速足突き,Haya'ashi Tsuki?)[8] - The user spins before kicking off the ground and quickly dashing towards their opponent with enough speed to simulate teleportation, then does a powerful, singular thrust that hits twice.
Rising Thrust (昇り突き,Nobori Tsuki?)[8] - The user launches a thrust towards their opponent and then releases an upwards thrust that launches their opponent high up into the air.
The Brilliant and the Brave (柱と庚,Hashira to Kanoe?, lit. "Hashira and Kanoe")[9] - A collaboration between an Insect Breathing user and a Water Breathing user, although unlike Dancing Waters' Allure, it is not required for the Water Breather to have a particularly high skill set. The Insect Breather takes the lead by kicking their opponent back several times before unleashing two thrusting attacks similar to Dance of the Butterfly. After the opponent falls to the ground, the Water Breather joins in and attacks them several times, albeit much more unrefined. The Water Breather then rushes forwards and uses a move similar to Water Surface Slash. However, there’s a minor chance that the Water Breather’s uniform is damaged in the chaos.
Dancing Waters' Allure (水艶乱舞,Suien Ranbu?)[9] - A collaboration between a Water Breathing user and Insect Breathing user. After the two deliver a crosscut, the Water Breather attacks the opponent several times in a winding fashion similar to Striking Tide. The Insect Breather then joins in and delivers a spinning thrust similar to Dance of the Butterfly. The Water and Insect Breather then bombard their opponent with several attacks from their respective Breathing Styles; the former attacking from several directions, the latter somersaulting around their opponent and stabbing them several times. After the Water Breather slashes them, the Insect Breather stabs and kicks them in the air. As the opponent falls down, the Insect Breather charges towards them while the Water Breather executes a move similar to Dead Calm. When contact is made, the opponent is struck by a constant and multidirectional barrage of Water Breathing and Insect Breathing attacks ending in a spectacular combination.
Chemistry Class Concoction (科学実験,Kagaku Jikken?)[8] - A technique exclusive to the Kimetsu Academy version of Shinobu Kocho. As President of the Pharmacology Club, she uses her knowledge in chemistry to give her opponent a Erlenmeyer flask containing a strange pink chemical. She then pours in another chemical from a test tube which reacts violently and results in an explosion, causing Shinobu to sarcastically lament “another failure”.
Insect Breathing is the only known Breathing Style that is derived from another Breathing Style who itself is derived from Water Breathing, one of the five fundamental Breathing Styles.
Insect Breathing is the only Breathing Style other than Hinokami Kagura that does not organize its forms by numerical order.
Dance of the Horsefly: Enticing Slash is an anime-original form technique that was not shown or mentioned in the manga, making Insect Breathing the second Breathing Style to gain at least one anime-original form, after Flame Breathing.
In the manga, while Sound Breathing is the Breathing Style with the least forms demonstrated, Insect Breathing was the Breathing Style with the least known minimum forms in the manga—at only four forms known.
This is changed with the release of the Infinity Castle movie, as with the addition of the movie-original Dance of the Horsefly, it is now tied with Sound, Stone, and Serpent Breathing at five.
Whenever the Insect Breathing user unleashes their techniques, they visualize themselves manifesting or taking the forms of insects in various different colors for each technique, making it the only Breathing Style to have a widely varied color scheme that depends on the exact form used.
Butterfly Dance: Caprice manifests a swarm of blue and lavender butterflies.
Dance of the Bee Sting: True Flutter visualizes the user as a yellow Japanese giant hornet (despite its name).
Dance of the Horsefly: Enticing Slash visualizes the user as a buzzing cloud of thick purple smoke, with rapidly flickering yellow slashes.
Dance of the Dragonfly: Compound Eye Hexagon visualizes the user as a green dragonfly.
Dance of the Centipede: Hundred-Legged Zigzag visualizes the user as a brown centipede, that attacks with red-to-purple highlights.
Demons' opinion on being slayed by Insect Breathing and its wielder is as follows:[10]
"She's small, so I underestimated her... and those thrusts." - Daughter
"I'd never felt such pain before." - Demon A
"Hearing about the poison was depressing." - Demon B
In the Hinokami Chronicles video game, Shinobu's tilt skill, Swift Thrust, bears a striking resemblance to Dance of the Centipede, due to its zig-zag movement.
.gif "Dance of the Horsefly (Anime).gif (6.09 MB)")
.gif "Dance of the Centipede - Hundred-Legged Zigzag (Anime).gif (9.02 MB)")
