Katori Dōjō.
A low shout came from the courtyard, followed by the continuous sound of clashing wooden swords.
Clack, clack, clack, thud—
Kuchiki Byakuya was sparring with Ikkaku Madarame.
"These two kids are starting to look like real fighters," Batsu'unsai smiled.
"Hmm... a little better than just swinging wildly," Sora nodded.
After accepting Ikkaku, he had been caught up in the war. Fortunately, Uemon Tsubakiri had been able to help with the teaching.
Now, both Byakuya and Ikkaku had completed their basic swordsmanship training and were no longer swinging without any form.
[Disciple Kuchiki Byakuya has completed basic swordsmanship training. Rewards settled.]
Received Reward: 2,000 general experience points.
[Disciple Ikkaku Madarame has completed basic swordsmanship training. Rewards settled.]
Received Reward: 2,000 general experience points.
Sora's proficiency in all low and mid-tier Kidō had reached the Grandmaster level, so the rewards for basic training missions no longer included Kidō proficiency.
However, the general experience gained had increased from 1,000 to 2,000.
"I win!"
Byakuya parried the incoming wooden sword, intending to decide the match while Ikkaku was off-balance.
However, he suddenly noticed a figure on the courtyard wall that he hadn't seen before, startling him and causing his swing to falter.
In that moment of distraction, he felt a sharp pain in his wrist.
Thud—
The wooden sword in his hand was instantly knocked away.
"Counter-attack successful!"
Ikkaku slung his wooden sword over his shoulder and laughed heartily.
"That was a sneak attack! If senior sister Yoruichi hadn't suddenly appeared and startled me, you wouldn't have hit me!"
Byakuya rubbed his swollen hand resentfully.
"Getting startled like that isn't my fault,"
Yoruichi Shihōin jumped down from the wall.
"So it was senior sister Yoruichi!"
Only then did Ikkaku notice her behind him.
"Yoruichi's ability to hide her spiritual pressure is getting better and better. Even I didn't sense you,"
Batsu'unsai remarked.
"Even Grandmaster couldn't sense her!" Byakuya was intrigued. If he could also hide his spiritual pressure, his attacks would be much harder to predict. "I want to learn that! Can you teach me?"
"You want to learn this?"
Yoruichi saw the innocent look in Byakuya's eyes, untainted by the harshness of society, and a mischievous idea sparked in her mind.
"This is a secret technique of the Shihōin clan, not to be taught to outsiders..."
Yoruichi lowered her voice, as if sharing a forbidden secret.
"A secret technique of the Shihōin clan!"
"Such a precious secret art... then I can't learn it..."
Byakuya sighed.
A technique classified as a 'secret' by the Shihōin clan certainly couldn't be taught easily.
"For the Professor's sake, it's not entirely impossible to teach you," Yoruichi smiled slightly.
"Really?!" Byakuya got excited.
"Of course, I can't be at a disadvantage either..." Yoruichi rubbed her thumb and index finger together. "How much allowance do you have?"
"I've saved up almost fifty thousand!" Byakuya stated an amount he could accept.
Although the Kuchiki family was wealthy, they were very strict with their underage descendants. It hadn't been easy for Byakuya to save up that much.
The extra pay for a Shinigami squad member stationed in the human world for killing one Hollow was only five thousand kan.
"Not enough!" Yoruichi looked disdainful. "How could a mere fifty thousand kan buy a 'Shihōin Secret Technique'?"
"It costs at least eighty thousand kan," Yoruichi looked at Byakuya's face and named a price.
"But I don't have that much..." Byakuya scratched his head in frustration, desperately wanting to buy it.
"It seems you have no fate with the 'Shihōin Secret Technique'," Yoruichi shook her head regretfully.
"Wait! I can borrow money!" Byakuya grabbed his companion beside him. "Ikkaku..."
"Call me big brother," Ikkaku picked his nose and said unhurriedly.
Although Ikkaku lived in the Rukongai, his family had produced Shinigami since his father's generation. Now that he was attending the academy, his family still gave him some support. Plus, the academy provided a monthly living allowance, so he had also saved some money.
"Big brother Ikkaku!" Byakuya readily agreed. If he could get the 'Shihōin Secret Technique', calling him 'big brother' a few times was worth it.
"Hmm..." Ikkaku grinned and slowly took out his money pouch from his robe. "I don't have that much either, only ten thousand kan."
"That's enough! Thank you, big brother Ikkaku!"
Byakuya happily took the money, added it to his own to make eighty thousand, and handed it to Yoruichi.
"I can feel your sincerity in wanting to learn the 'Shihōin Secret Technique'," Yoruichi smiled like a fox as she took the money.
"This is the 'Shihōin Secret Technique'!" She took out a pen and paper from her pocket and wrote something down.
After receiving the 'secret technique', Byakuya couldn't wait to look at it.
The next moment, his face changed drastically.
"Liar!!!"
Byakuya was furious and threw the paper onto the ground.
He wanted his money back, but Yoruichi easily dodged him.
"I didn't lie to you. That is the 'Shihōin Secret Technique', hahahaha!"
Yoruichi laughed and jumped away.
Ikkaku curiously picked up the paper Byakuya had thrown.
"It really is the 'Shihōin Secret Technique'..."
Ikkaku clicked his tongue.
Written on the paper were just those exact words: 'Shihōin Secret Technique'.
"I must master Shunpo!"
Byakuya couldn't catch Yoruichi at all and had to give up.
"Remember to pay back the money I lent you!"
Ikkaku patted his shoulder.
"You'll get it," Byakuya's face flushed red. "I'll pay you back in two months!"
On this day, he deeply understood how frustrating it was when his Shunpo was inferior to his opponent's.
"A small profit."
Yoruichi tossed the money pouch she had tricked out of Byakuya and came before Sora and Batsu'unsai.
"You even cheat children out of their money."
Sora shook his head helplessly.
"I'm teaching him about the dangers of the human heart. It's only right to charge some tuition,"
Yoruichi said matter-of-factly.
"This is the consolidated battle report from the war," she took out a report. "I also feel the number of Quincy is somewhat abnormal. Only twenty or thirty years have passed, yet they've recovered to this extent. And the powerful Quincy you encountered are also suspicious. There must be another strong settlement that hasn't been found yet."
The combat power displayed by the Quincy in this war had caught the attention of the Shinigami.
The captains all believed that there was at least one more settlement that hadn't been discovered, and that it contained many elite Quincy.
However, apart from Sora, no one would have guessed that the Quincy were hiding deep within the shadows of the Seireitei itself.
"Hmm... thank you for your hard work," Sora took the report and flipped through it.
Before, it had just been speculation, but after infiltrating the Wandenreich the day before yesterday, he had confirmed that the abnormal growth of the Quincy was related to it.
Sora now planned to take the opportunity of the Sternritter recruitment to infiltrate their ranks.
This would make it easier to inquire about and confirm Yhwach's condition.
In the future, when attacking the Wandenreich, the identity of a Sternritter could also provide great assistance and reduce casualties on the Shinigami side.
"The Onmitsukidō's capture operation has ended. We caught some Quincy who fled the battlefield, but they all have some kind of anti-disclosure reishi formula on them. We can't get information from them through interrogation," Yoruichi continued.
Although the war on the main fronts had ended long ago, there were still a large number of Shinigami in the human world doing clean-up work.
"Then transfer them to the Technology Development Bureau. Let Lieutenant Urahara and Third Seat Mayuri crack the formulas," Sora said.
"Just the day before yesterday, all of these captured Quincy were killed by the reishi formulas inside them," Yoruichi was somewhat unable to accept that the captives the Onmitsukidō had spent so much effort to capture were gone just like that.
To ensure that information about the Wandenreich was not leaked, all the soldiers sent to the human world had these anti-disclosure formulas.
"No wonder Sōken Ishida said there was no need to go to the human world... he must have already known about this..."
Sora thought of Sōken's weary face from the day before yesterday.
His fatigue was not just physical; more importantly, Haschwalth's cold indifference had chilled his heart.
"There's not much that could have been done to prevent this. The Onmitsukidō did their best," Sora nodded.
After submitting her report, Yoruichi left the dōjō. The Onmitsukidō had just returned from the human world, and she still had many things to handle.
Before leaving, she came before Byakuya.
"Go away. I don't know you," he coldly turned his head away.
"You don't want it anymore?" Yoruichi dangled the money pouch in front of him.
"Give it back!" Byakuya reached for it, but she dodged.
"I'll give it back next time you can sense my spiritual pressure," Yoruichi put the pouch away.
"Damn it!" the cold expression on Byakuya's face broke again. "If you don't want to give it back, just say so. I'm not a sore loser!"
"I won't take advantage of you either. I'll tell you a little trick," Yoruichi's figure disappeared, her voice coming from a distance. "Holding your breath helps you concentrate. It's somewhat useful for both hiding and sensing spiritual pressure."
"Really?" Byakuya asked his professor doubtfully. "Professor, is what she said true?"
"It varies from person to person," Sora chuckled. "If doing so helps you focus, then it's effective."
Byakuya held his breath and sensed Ikkaku's spiritual pressure. He didn't know if it was just his imagination, but after a moment, he felt that Ikkaku's fluctuation seemed a bit clearer.
"It works... it wasn't a total loss..." the pain of being swindled eased somewhat.
"It really works!" Ikkaku also felt Byakuya's spiritual pressure fluctuation become slightly clearer after using this method to concentrate.
The corner of Byakuya's eye twitched. He thought about how Ikkaku had gotten this tip for free, and the pain he had just relieved came back.
"Damn it!"
...
After guiding Byakuya and Ikkaku, Sora focused his attention on the Reigai puppet.
Liltotto and Meninas were also training.
For convenience, Sora had Meninas come over to Liltotto's place so he could teach them together.
"This is a spiritual tool I made based on your situation. It can assist your training."
Sora took out two wrist guards.
Last night, he had his Reigai puppet return to the Soul Society again to bring back these newly crafted bracers.
Through Meninas's verification, these bracers indeed had the effect of training the control of external reishi and one's own spiritual pressure.
"Thank you, Professor!"
Liltotto felt a warmth in her heart. It had been a long time since she had felt cared for.
"Let me guide you to feel the flow of spiritual pressure," Sora took Liltotto's hand. "This is the frequency for the first stage."
Liltotto carefully felt the spiritual pressure inside her body.
Under Sora's guidance, her spiritual pressure quickly began to flow and circulate at a certain frequency.
"Just like that," Sora released her hand. "The first stage isn't difficult. Try it yourself."
Liltotto nodded and tried to control her internal spiritual pressure while 20% of her ability was sealed.
"It doesn't feel difficult, but it's not easy either..."
Liltotto opened her palm but couldn't condense a reishi ball as she had wished.
"Practice slowly. You can't rush things."
Sora looked at Meninas beside her. She had been standing there for quite a while. "Have you completed the second stage?"
"Yes!" Meninas opened her palm. The surrounding reishi gathered towards it, and in a short moment, it condensed into a reishi arrow. "Look, Professor!"
"You've mastered it quickly!" Sora nodded gently. "At this rate, you should be able to complete all five stages before the recruitment ceremony begins."
Meninas's training level was not high, but she had received some basic training as a new soldier, so her foundation was better than Liltotto's.
Therefore, Sora judged that she could complete this training in a short time.
"If you want to become stronger before the recruitment ceremony, just this is not enough. I'm going to increase the difficulty for you."
Sora smiled. "Although the selection rules haven't been announced, practical combat ability will definitely be an important assessment criterion."
"Are we going to do combat training?"
Meninas asked expectantly.
"Yes. When I tested you the day before yesterday, I found some problems," Sora slowly raised his hand. "Let's start with 'evasion'."
Meninas saw the blue light glowing in her professor's palm and instantly felt uneasy. She immediately used Hirenkyaku to fly up.
"Your combat intuition is pretty good, but your positioning awareness is much worse. Too many unnecessary movements," dense reishi arrows shot from Sora's palm. "Get rid of all those extra moves!"
The dense rain of arrows made Meninas's scalp tingle.
Without time to think, she desperately activated her Hirenkyaku, dodging the assault.
Even so, she was soon hit by the arrows.
However, she was surprised to find that the arrows dissipated into reishi upon contact with her body.
"I controlled the power of the arrows. What are you standing there for? It seems I need to increase the power!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Meninas felt a stinging pain in her abdomen.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch!"
She quickly dodged the following arrows. Although they still wouldn't injure her, they would hurt.
"The Professor can shoot so many without a bow!"
Liltotto gained a clearer understanding of her professor's strength.
She had seen the military police fight.
Their strength was far inferior to her professor's.
"I have to train hard so the Professor doesn't look down on me."
Liltotto focused her mind and continued to wrestle with the spiritual pressure inside her.
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