In the dormitory of Shin'ō Spiritual Arts Academy
Natsuro sat cross-legged on his bed, with his asauchi (nameless Zanpakutō) laid flat across his lap.
At that moment, Natsuro was in a meditative state known as Senkei, synchronizing his mind with his Zanpakutō in order to converse with it.
In fact, from the moment Natsuro obtained his asauchi, he could have forcibly communicated with his Zanpakutō.
However, after some consideration, he decided to follow the proper process to achieve Shikai. After all, a Zanpakutō was likely to be a companion for a long time. And since it clearly possessed its own will, it deserved some respect.
Thus, he took things more slowly, constantly using his spiritual energy to cleanse and refine the asauchi, imprinting it completely with his own essence.
But Natsuro's spiritual power was just too vast and powerful.
As a result, it didn't actually take long before the asauchi was fully engraved with his spiritual signature, and the consciousness within had already yielded.
During his last Senkei, Natsuro clearly sensed that the day of his Shikai was drawing near.
This wasn't some vague hunch, the spirit within the Zanpakutō had consciously conveyed that feeling to him.
Once again, he channeled his spiritual energy into the asauchi, as always.
Before long, he opened his eyes to find a beautiful woman in front of him, dressed in a black imperial-style robe, with flowing jet-black hair.
"You've finally decided to come see me?" Natsuro asked, unfazed by the appearance of the woman.
She, too, was calm and unshaken as she looked at him and sighed softly. She had known this moment was inevitable.
From the moment he first grasped her hilt, she could sense how powerful her master was. She couldn't even hide from his perception.
She had originally assumed that he would come to her immediately, call her name, and force the Shikai. But what happened had caught her off guard.
Despite his strength, he had chosen to take his time with blade meditation, slowly understanding himself and her, giving her the respect she didn't expect.
"You could've come to see me from the very beginning," the woman in the imperial robe said.
"A forcibly picked fruit may quench thirst, but it's never sweet. If you were just a temporary tool, I might've done that. But you're not," Natsuro replied.
"Oh? So instead of a temporary tool, I'm a long-term one?" she said with sarcasm.
"Yes, a weapon that will stay by my side for the long haul. Of course, if you're willing, I can also consider you a companion. But…" Natsuro's eyes narrowed slightly.
The woman listened intently. This would determine the nature of her future.
"I am the sword's master," Natsuro declared, slowly and firmly.
If Zanpakutō had their own consciousness, they would also have their own thoughts. Natsuro was willing to respect that, but...
In battle, he would never allow his weapon to go against his will. His intent must dominate everything in a fight, even if it was the wrong decision.
The woman froze slightly, staring at him. She felt the spiritual pressure in his words, it made her heart tremble.
She could feel how terrifying that pressure was. It felt like if she dared to say "no," that spiritual pressure would crush her on the spot…
Such power…
After a moment, the woman smiled and said, "Yes. You are the sword's master."
As soon as she said it, she felt an invisible burden lift from her body...
"Well then, my swordmaster… speak my name." She looked Natsuro in the eye and gave him a clue:
"A man cannot see himself in flowing water, only in still water. Only stillness can still all other stillness. My name is…"
As she said this, Natsuro suddenly felt something stir within him. A strange yet familiar feeling surged through his heart, and he blurted it out instinctively...
"Meikyō Shisui!" (Clear Mirror, Still Water)
The moment he spoke the name, the asauchi resting on his lap began to emit a white glow, its form began to shift and change.
Soon, a very unique sword appeared in his hand. It looked exactly as he had imagined. In the form of the Ink Blade, though the name was different…
At that moment, something stirred in Natsuro, and he murmured, "With Meikyō Shisui, the mind is clear."
As he felt the abilities of his Shikai, Natsuro smiled. A heart like still water, resulting a body as immovable as Mount Tai, perfectly embodied the essence of his Shikai.
It didn't grant any flashy abilities, it simply placed him into a mental state of Meikyō Shisui, allowing him to fight with his sixth sense, granting him resistance to illusions or visual deception.
It channeled all the Zanpakutō's power into enhancing Natsuro's own innate abilities.
This had always been his core belief. Even back in the Naruto world, his actions reflected that, he never believed in external power, nor did he want to rely on outside sources to strengthen himself.
Only personal growth was the true path. When you were strong enough, everything else would follow, you could use other powers, but you should never depend on them.
Meikyō Shisui amplified this principle to the extreme.
"A Shinigami version of 'Void State'?" Natsuro pondered, but then shook his head, it wasn't quite that.
Void State was about emptying oneself and relying on mental perception to replace the five senses. But Meikyō Shisui went a step further, observing the world with intuition and fighting with intuition.
Though they sounded similar, there was a difference... If someone specialized in spiritual attacks, Void State's perception could be affected, while Meikyō Shisui wouldn't be touched by anything.
At least, that was how Natsuro felt. Whether anything could actually interfere with Meikyō Shisui, he didn't know. Maybe there was. Maybe not.
After all, the universe was full of wonders. Even if this world didn't have such abilities, who could say for sure about others?
Still, he was now curious. Could he enter the Meikyō Shisui state without relying on the Zanpakutō at all?
The woman in the imperial robe gave an exasperated expression. Her dear swordmaster had only just awakened his Shikai, and he was already thinking about how to use the ability without her.
Honestly…
She had no words. But this was exactly why she had this kind of ability. After all, a Zanpakutō's powers are shaped entirely by its wielder's nature.
"My swordmaster… would you like to go one step further?" the woman suddenly asked.
Natsuro was taken aback. He looked at her and asked, "Go further? Bankai? Shouldn't I get used to my Shikai first before unlocking Bankai?"
He remembered the instructors saying that Bankai was incredibly difficult, far more than Shikai.
"Because I believe you don't need that adaptation process," she said.
"Well, that's true," Natsuro replied without modesty. Then he suddenly realized something and said, "Just call me Natsuro. Calling me 'swordmaster' all the time is a bit embarrassing."
She didn't respond. Instead, she stared directly at him and said, "Swordmaster, this isn't a matter of combat, so I believe I should be allowed to retain my own will."
Natsuro was stunned, then gave a bitter laugh and nodded.
"If that's what you prefer, then so be it."
The woman smiled slightly, then continued, "In truth, you're already qualified to use Bankai. But before that, please grant me the honor of sparring with you just once."
As she spoke, an identical sword appeared in her hand, exactly the same as Natsuro's.
Natsuro was startled.
He already had the qualifications for Bankai?
So then… what is the requirement for Bankai?
He didn't know. Bankai required the full manifestation of the Zanpakutō's spirit and the complete subjugation of its will.
Manifestation was easy enough to understand, Natsuro's spiritual power was simply too vast and overwhelming. After days of cleansing his asauchi with his spiritual energy, once he achieved Shikai, his Zanpakutō had already reached the point where full manifestation was possible.
As for subjugating the Zanpakutō's will, he had already done so even before unlocking his Shikai. The moment the woman in imperial robes willingly addressed him as "Swordmaster," the subjugation was complete.
It was possible that Natsuro was the only person to have met the Bankai conditions before even unlocking Shikai.
"Since this battle is meant to unlock Bankai, there's no need to apologize for crossing swords," Natsuro said, a bit puzzled, but willing to go along with it since the woman had requested it.
Hearing this, the woman in the imperial robes smiled. Her attire suddenly shifted into a tight-fitting combat outfit that highlighted her figure perfectly, completely different from her previous restrictive clothing.
She gripped her sword with both hands, and Natsuro did the same.
The two locked eyes. In the next moment, their figures vanished from sight.
Bang!
Their swords clashed midair, Natsuro and Meikyō Shisui, as the woman was named, had collided.
This time, Natsuro made no use of Kidō, no Shunpo, and not even his superior spiritual power. He sealed all of it away and fought using the same strength as hers, matching her power exactly.
One strike after another, their blades crossed back and forth through dozens of exchanges.
From the very first strike, Meikyō Shisui sensed Natsuro's intent. She didn't object, smiling, she met him blow for blow.
But Natsuro had perfect fundamentals. On that basis alone, he was not inferior to anyone.
In this duel of pure swordsmanship, he gradually gained the upper hand.
Soon, he knocked Meikyō Shisui's sword from her hands and placed his blade gently at her neck.
"As expected… I lost, Swordmaster," Meikyō Shisui said with a bitter smile. She had thought that in a perfectly fair fight, she might hold a slight edge, but clearly, that was wishful thinking.
Just as she was about to formally grant Natsuro his Bankai, he suddenly spoke, "Not yet. Let's keep going."
Meikyō Shisui froze for a moment, then looked at Natsuro and understood, her swordmaster wanted her to serve as a sparring partner.
That… didn't sound so bad. Being able to witness and accompany his growth firsthand.
She retrieved her sword and looked toward Natsuro.
"Careful now," Natsuro warned for once, gripping his sword with one hand as a vivid memory. one that had stayed with him for years, rose in his mind.
In the past, it had been extremely difficult for him to replicate this technique. And by the time he could, he no longer needed it. But now… perhaps this was the right moment.
Natsuro took a deep breath, and then, in the blink of an eye, he vanished from Meikyō Shisui's sight. It was a visual illusion caused by extreme speed.
In the next moment, Meikyō Shisui heard a thunderclap echo beside her ear, like lightning crashing down. She instinctively raised her blade to block.
Bang!
A broken sword spun through the air and embedded itself into the ground.
Natsuro now stood in front of Meikyō Shisui, his sword once again at her neck. His blade was completely intact.
Even though they were using the same sword, the outcome couldn't have been more different.
"Swordmaster… what technique was that?" Meikyō Shisui asked. She could feel that Natsuro hadn't used any more power than she had… but she still couldn't see through the technique. Couldn't even understand it. And thus, couldn't counter it.
"First Form: Thunderclap and Flash," Natsuro replied. He didn't bother renaming it. It wasn't technically Thunder Breathing, but the principle was similar.
By leveraging the explosive nature of Shunpo, this ultra-fast slash was nearly impossible to react to.
Due to the differences between spiritual energy and chakra, even concentrating chakra in the legs wouldn't produce such speed. Chakra simply didn't have that kind of explosive quality.
Natsuro had known this technique for a long time, but couldn't find a way to use it effectively. And by the time he had techniques like Flying Thunder God, it wasn't worth practicing anymore.
However, spiritual energy was more volatile than chakra, and since Natsuro was a spirit being, composed mostly of spiritual energy, Shunpo allowed him to push his speed to the absolute limit, replicating the effect of Thunderclap Flash.
What's more, Natsuro believed Shunpo wasn't just about raw speed, it had many hidden potentials.
For example, during his duel with Renji, he had the idea of leaving behind a temporary spiritual afterimage at his original location to confuse his opponent while using Shunpo.
In short, Shunpo could be personalized. The teachers had only taught the basics. It was up to him to develop his own form of Shunpo, his own path.
"I've lost, Swordmaster," Meikyō Shisui said again. Her body dissolved into light and flowed back into Natsuro's blade.
Back in the dorm, Natsuro opened his eyes.
His Shikai form was completed.
And now… his Bankai was ready...
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