A Soul Reaper's Battle Is a Battle of Reishi / The Identity of the Captain Secretly Watching

The training ground fell silent.

All the new students were still staring wide-eyed.

They looked at Renji Abarai, who had already fallen to his knees in the middle of the field.

Then they looked across at Tokoyo Misao, who still held his wooden sword naturally at his side, its tip pointing down.

Everything had happened far too quickly. Less than a minute had passed, and the two had rapidly exchanged blows in three rounds.

Everyone knew that Tokoyo Misao had the lowest Rei'i Grade in their class.

Even after making a breakthrough two days ago, he had only reached Eighteenth-Class Rei'i.

Renji Abarai, standing opposite him, was one of the best students in their group.

He had possessed Fifteenth-Class Spiritual Pressure when he enrolled, and the teacher said he would soon reach Fourteenth-Class.

He also looked heavily muscled and had plenty of calluses, so he was probably someone who fought often.

Yet Tokoyo Misao had overwhelmed him so easily.

The students kept replaying the fight in their minds, trying to find the reason Renji Abarai had lost.

In the corridor, Rangiku Matsumoto rose to her feet with a smile and tossed out a remark:

"Then I'll leave tonight's bar tab to you, Teacher Ōu."

With that, she strode into the training ground.

She had only accepted today's teaching assignment at the academy to kill time.

It would keep the captain from sending her to patrol Rukongai again, but she had never expected to see such an interesting fight.

Rangiku Matsumoto walked to the center of the training ground and came to Tokoyo Misao's side. First, she praised him with a smile:

"Not bad. You're very good at manipulating Reishi. Keep it up!"

After offering those words of encouragement, she looked down at Renji Abarai, who was kneeling on the ground, both hands clutching the sand, and asked:

"Do you know why you lost so completely?"

Before Renji Abarai could respond, the surrounding students immediately crowded toward the center of the field.

They stopped about a meter away and quietly waited for Rangiku Matsumoto's explanation.

"I... I'm too weak." Renji Abarai didn't look up.

His eyes were slightly unfocused, and his vision gradually blurred.

As he saw it, losing meant he was weak.

Back in Rukongai, when those thugs beat him up, there had been no other reason than that he was weak, so he didn't want to make any excuses.

"You really don't use your head at all." Rangiku Matsumoto sighed softly. "Look up."

Renji raised his head, pressing his lips tightly together.

Rangiku Matsumoto raised one finger.

"Why did you choose to attack Tokoyo Misao from his right in the first round, and why did you use a sweeping strike?"

Renji frowned. "Because at the time, I felt like attacking from that side would let me hit him directly."

"That was your mistake." Rangiku Matsumoto turned sideways and pointed her raised finger at Tokoyo Misao.

"The reason you chose that attack was that, before you two started fighting, he used subtle movements to make you feel like there was an opening on his right.

"And sure enough, you attacked exactly as he expected and fell into his trap."

"What?" Renji's eyes widened as he cried out in disbelief.

He replayed their first exchange over and over in his mind.

At the time, Tokoyo Misao's body had been loose and relaxed, and he had seemed to have openings everywhere.

Renji had attacked when he saw that Misao's right foot wasn't fully planted on the ground...

Renji Abarai's pupils suddenly contracted. He turned and looked straight at Tokoyo Misao.

"You lured me into my second attack too!"

He suddenly recalled how Tokoyo Misao's body had seemed unsteady after he jumped back.

Once again, Renji had thought he'd found an opportunity and leaped up, intending to end the fight with a downward slash.

But all of it had been part of Tokoyo Misao's plan. That was how he had been able to thrust his wooden sword forward and strike Renji squarely in the chest.

Tokoyo Misao smiled at Renji, but offered no explanation.

Rangiku Matsumoto spoke instead. "It wasn't just the second time. On your last attack, you used all your strength and unleashed your Rei'i at the peak of the Fifteenth Class.

"In the end, the way you attacked and where you aimed were no different from the first two times. You were lured into it again.

"You fell for the same trap three times. All I can say is that you're a little too stupid."

Renji Abarai stared blankly at Tokoyo Misao, unable to say a word.

"Lieutenant Matsumoto, how exactly did he do it?"

Izuru Kira looked at Renji, who was completely dazed, and couldn't help asking.

"His eyes, his movements, even the rhythm of his breathing."

Rangiku Matsumoto raised her head and explained to the students around her.

"When two people fight, of course they have to keep their eyes on each other. That's a basic part of combat."

"But that's also something that can be exploited, and that's exactly what Tokoyo Misao did."

Seeing the confused expressions on the students' faces, Rangiku Matsumoto reached up and scratched her head.

"It comes down to combat experience. With enough practice, you'll be able to recognize and use it too."

Momo Hinamori also stepped forward and voiced the question on her mind:

"But why was it Abarai's wooden sword that broke from the attack he unleashed at the end, rather than Misao's?"

"I don't really understand that part myself. I only have a vague guess."

Rangiku Matsumoto turned her head and smiled at Tokoyo Misao. "Why don't you explain it?"

Tokoyo Misao nodded. He raised the wooden sword in his hand horizontally, looked at Renji Abarai, and spoke gently:

"When you unleashed all your strength just now, you really did come close to Fourteenth-Class Spiritual Pressure.

"You released that power, forming Reiatsu that enveloped your body and the weapon in your hand.

"There's nothing wrong with that, because that's how people normally fight."

He extended two fingers and ran them along the blade.

"But think carefully. What is Reiatsu? What is Rei'i? And what is Reishi?"

He paused for a moment, then saw that even Rukia still looked confused. He spoke plainly:

"We and everything in Soul Society are made of Reishi. So a Soul Reaper's battle is a battle of Reishi."

"And the power you unleashed just now was all the Reishi you normally store in your body."

As he spoke, his fingers traveled along the wooden sword, from the blade to the tip.

"Although your total Reiatsu was greater than mine, you spread it across your whole body and your weapon. Averaged out, it was only around the Sixteenth Class."

"But Misao, you didn't use Eighteenth-Class power just now, did you?"

Izuru Kira suddenly spoke up. That was what puzzled him most.

"That's because I concentrated all the Reishi of my Eighteenth-Class Rei'i at the tip of my sword.

"At that point, the Reishi it contained was equal to the Reishi in Red-Haired Baboon's weapon."

"Then, taking the force of his swing into account, I stabbed directly at the point where his weapon would bear the force. Naturally, his weapon was the one that broke."

Tokoyo Misao lowered his hands and summed up with a smile. "Fighting is about how you use your power."

With that, he quietly walked to the edge of the field.

But Rukia followed him over.

Gripping her wooden sword, she stood directly opposite Tokoyo Misao with a determined look and took a stance. "Teach me."

"Okay."

Tokoyo Misao picked up his wooden sword again and began instructing Rukia.

In the center of the training ground, Rangiku Matsumoto clapped her hands. "Everyone, get moving. Today is Zanjutsu practice."

"You can start trying to use your movements and your eyes to guide your opponent into attacking where you want them to."

As soon as she finished speaking, all the students got moving and paired off. Only Renji Abarai remained on his knees.

Rangiku Matsumoto spoke to him quietly. "Are you going to admit defeat?"

Admit defeat? Renji Abarai gritted his teeth, struggled to his feet, and growled:

"No. I'll never admit defeat."

Chapter 13: The Identity of the Captain Secretly Watching

Central Spiritual Arts Academy, training ground.

Rangiku Matsumoto left in high spirits and headed straight to a tavern for a drink.

On her way out, she took sixty thousand kan from Teacher Ōu's wages.

Faced with a Gotei 13 lieutenant, Ōu, who was only an academy teacher, had no way to resist and obediently handed over every bit of the money.

In a corner of the training ground.

Rukia stared at Tokoyo Misao in front of her, her eyes full of surprise, and said:

"Please, Misao."

Tokoyo Misao smiled and nodded in response.

"Come on. First, let's see how good your tactics are."

Rukia's gaze sharpened. She gripped her wooden sword in both hands and shouted, "Ora!"

She pushed off with both feet, lunging through the air with a downward slash.

Tokoyo Misao dodged the blow with ease.

As he sidestepped, he even raised a foot and sent Rukia flying with a kick.

But just as his right leg kicked Rukia away, he suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced beyond the training ground wall.

There, beyond the farthest wall, was that familiar red Spirit Ribbon tinged with pink.

That Captain-level fellow had actually come back to spy on them.

And just now, when he attacked Rukia, the other party's Spirit Ribbon had clearly reacted.

Did that mean this Captain-level figure had come to observe Rukia?

Let's test it again.

Having made up his mind, Tokoyo Misao held out his right hand and beckoned Rukia forward.

She had only just spun backward three times in the air and landed, plowing a four- or five-meter furrow through the ground before coming to a stop.

She knelt on one knee, holding her stomach, her face full of disbelief.

In Rukongai, they usually fought with all their strength and defeated their opponents in one blow, so those thugs wouldn't keep pestering them.

After a while, Rukia had also realized that she was very strong, far beyond what ordinary thugs could hope to challenge.

It wasn't until she entered the academy and tested at Eleventh-Class Rei'i that she understood why.

The Reishi within her was highly concentrated, which meant her body was stronger than other people's.