Chapter 62 - CHAPTER 62

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Back then, Shutara Senjumaru had extracted a significant portion of his Reiatsu.

What he hadn't expected was that Senjumaru had preserved that spiritual energy rather than allowing it to disperse into spiritual particles, which would have been typical—even in high-level Kido storage.

As these thoughts flowed through his mind, Gosuke Shigure's gaze returned to the Shihakushō—or more precisely, the enhanced Shin'ōhō—that Senjumaru had given him.

On the surface, it might seem that because the original owner of this combat uniform had perished, Senjumaru had opted not to let it go to waste and chose instead to pass it on to him.

But regardless of her reasoning, to Gosuke Shigure, the fact remained: this unique battle attire had returned to its original wielder, albeit in a new form.

Without delay, Gosuke Shigure put on the uniform.

Only after donning it did he truly realize what made it so special.

The moment he wore the outfit, the first sensation he experienced was a subtle but steady drain of his Reiatsu—not violent, but clearly noticeable.

More precisely, the outfit was absorbing his spiritual power.

The reishi absorbed by the modified Shihakushō was then stored within its threads.

Of course, at its core, this was still a garment—there were inherent limits to how much spiritual energy it could retain.

Gosuke Shigure's spiritual pressure wasn't overwhelming compared to some of the Gotei 13's upper ranks, but it brimmed with potential.

Since his rebirth, his Reiatsu had grown at an accelerated pace, far surpassing his past life's progression.

Even now, Gosuke himself did not know where his upper limit might lie.

But he understood this much: all spiritual beings, no matter how powerful, eventually reach a bottleneck—the so-called threshold.

Crossing that point required either an extraordinary natural evolution or the intervention of external catalysts.

Aizen Sōsuke, in the original timeline, created the Hōgyoku precisely because he was approaching such a limit—and needed a way to transcend it.

The Hōgyoku, combined with his Hollowfication experiments and the development of Arrancar via forced Hollow evolution, was all in pursuit of breaking through natural boundaries.

And to his credit, Aizen had succeeded.

Whether it was turning Shinigami into hybrids or forcibly evolving Hollows into Arrancar, each path led to unprecedented spiritual amplification.

But those transformations were artificial.

True transcendence, Gosuke mused, wasn't gifted by an external force like the Hōgyoku—it was earned through one's own resolve and effort.

To reach the limit—and surpass it—without artificial catalysts was what defined true strength.

Such beings were rare, from antiquity to modern Soul Society.

Gosuke Shigure, even at his prime in his previous life, had not reached that summit.

In this life, though, his Reiatsu had surged so swiftly—it had already surpassed most captains by the time he'd fought Kenpachi Zaraki in Mole City.

And that was before releasing his Zanpakutō's Shikai or Bankai.

He couldn't help but wonder where this second life would take him—what height he might reach.

Originally, he had hoped for a peaceful, anonymous existence after his rebirth.

But fate—or perhaps the weight of his past—had steered him elsewhere.

Now, as the new Kenpachi and Eleventh Division Captain, the dream of a quiet life seemed laughable.

Still, maybe, if he survived to retirement…

But back to the present.

After absorbing his spiritual energy for a while, the Shin'ōhō began to reveal its true qualities.

Gosuke Shigure discovered it was almost alive.

He could command it as if it were an extension of himself.

In battle, he could direct the stored Reiatsu within it to surge outward and form a spiritual barrier that clung to the uniform—granting him formidable defense without diminishing his active spiritual pool.

"It's a bit like an Arrancar's Hierro," Gosuke thought aloud.

Hierro, or steel skin, was a signature ability of Arrancar—a byproduct of condensing spiritual energy into their epidermis.

While it cost them their natural High-Speed Regeneration, it gave them incredible physical durability.

Ordinary Zanpakutō, if not imbued with considerable power, often couldn't pierce it.

Though it sounded inferior to regeneration, that wasn't always true.

Superior defense reduced injury in the first place. And regeneration consumed spiritual power.

A fight drawn out through attrition could exhaust even a Hollow with such ability.

Of course, not all Arrancar lost their regeneration—Ulquiorra Cifer, for instance, retained his.

In comparison, Gosuke Shigure's reinforced Shihakushō mimicked the concept—by projecting a barrier of stored Reiatsu over the fabric.

But then Gosuke realized something else.

"It's not just like Hierro… It's more akin to the Quincy's Blut techniques."

Where Hierro was epidermal defense, Blut Vene was an internalized technique used by Quincy, channeling reishi through their veins to create a spiritual barrier inside their own body.

Unlike Arrancar, Quincy used their innate affinity for reishi manipulation to switch between Blut Vene (defense) and Blut Arterie (offense)—each allowing mastery over different aspects of combat.

Gosuke Shigure's uniform, in its current state, behaved similarly.

The Reiatsu layer wasn't hardened skin—it was flowing, spiritual mesh.

It moved with him. It responded to him.

And, just like a Quincy's Blut, it could be redirected or intensified on command.

More than that, the outfit retained the functions of a standard Shihakushō—self-repair, reishi insulation, and flexible combat wear—but enhanced.

It could siphon ambient spirit energy from the environment or absorb residual energy from enemy attacks.

But Gosuke was more intrigued by one half-hidden ability: Replenishment.

In Shinigami combat, Reiatsu was the core resource.

Especially after activating Bankai, the drain could be enormous.

Though Bankai amplified one's Reiatsu, the burn rate increased exponentially.

That's why captains rarely opened with Bankai—it was a trump card.

But with this suit storing backup energy, Gosuke could bypass that limitation.

If he chose not to use its defense-focused capabilities, he could instead tap into the reserve to replenish himself during or after battle.

A portable energy bank. A built-in reiryoku battery.

If harnessed properly, this single outfit could be the difference between defeat and victory—between life and death.

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