Shikai (continued)

Xuanxin had always fought silently on his own, going to the Fourth Division for treatment after he was injured.

But the battle before him had far exceeded his abilities. This was not a problem he could solve in a year or two. The sword spirit's swordsmanship had clearly reached an incredible level. In all of Soul Society, probably only Old Man Yamamoto and Retsu Unohana were qualified to discuss swordsmanship with his sword spirit.

So, after talking it over with Yoruichi and Kisuke Urahara, he had chosen this time to rely on Retsu Unohana's help to make a breakthrough.

Outside, Xuanxin sat cross-legged on the ground, his brow tightly furrowed.

As he fought in the world of Jinzen, gruesome wounds appeared one after another on his defenseless body in the real world as well.

Blood instantly stained his white uniform jacket red.

Yet Retsu Unohana, the Fourth Division Captain standing behind him, did not even blink.

"Fight to your heart's content, Fujiwara. Let me see what bewitching flower will bloom amid such terrible bloodshed..."

A fanatical smile hung on Retsu Unohana's gentle face, sending chills down the spine.

At the sight of that smile, Yoruichi and Kisuke Urahara instinctively edged a few steps closer to Ukitake.

For a long time afterward, the two of them would rather study Kaidō themselves than set foot in the Fourth Division.

"Hey, blondie! I remember there's a kind of hot spring that can heal injuries, right? How about..." Yoruichi whispered to Kisuke Urahara beside her.

"There is... there is... I'll start researching it as soon as I get back."

"Good..."

With Retsu Unohana's help, advanced Kaidō spells were thrown at Xuanxin one after another as though they cost nothing.

With that support from outside, Xuanxin was able to let loose completely in the world of Jinzen, using moves he would never normally have dared even imagine.

The sword spirit seemed to notice the anomaly as well. She abruptly sprang back and tilted her head at Xuanxin. Then her lips parted slightly, and the short blade in her hand changed in an instant.

Xuanxin was taken aback. He had tried many times before, but this was the first time he had seen such a change.

While Xuanxin was still wondering about it, a massive fireball came flying straight at his face.

Xuanxin hurriedly dodged, but the moment his feet touched the ground, the sword spirit closed in and slashed at his arm with her short blade.

A numbing sensation ran along Xuanxin's arm, and then the entire wound felt as though it had been struck by lightning. The sword spirit spoke again:

"Hadō #4: Byakurai." Her voice was as cool and flat as ever.

Xuanxin listened to her words and looked at the wound on his arm, instantly realizing why he felt numb. The sword spirit had probably added Kidō to her blade.

A trace of excitement flashed through Xuanxin's mind. Gritting his teeth against the tingling numbness and searing pain of the lightning, he did not retreat. Instead, he took a fierce step forward into the sword spirit's lightning blade.

At an angle that nearly broke his wrist, Xuanxin forcefully broke through the sword spirit's defense for the first time!

"Squelch!"

The long blade tore a huge gash from the sword spirit's left shoulder to her chest, deep enough to expose bone. White particles soon began drifting steadily from the wound.

Having landed the blow, Xuanxin's eyes gleamed.

While the sword spirit's movements were slowed, Xuanxin prepared to press his advantage all at once.

Yet despite suffering an injury severe enough to instantly incapacitate an ordinary Soul Reaper, the sword spirit showed no pain on her beautiful face.

She looked at Xuanxin charging toward her, raised an eyebrow slightly, and curled her lips into a playful smile.

Then, under Xuanxin's disbelieving gaze, the sword spirit turned her wrist and slashed herself.

"What's this crazy woman doing?!" Xuanxin's mind went blank for a second.

But the next moment, a sight that made his scalp tingle appeared.

As the short blade passed over the sword spirit's body, a lustrous green light burst from the wound!

In the blink of an eye, the sword spirit's injuries had healed completely. Even her clothes had been restored!!

Xuanxin's eyes widened, and he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

It's one thing to coat a blade in Hadō and slash people with it, but she can even coat it in Kaidō and instantly heal herself by stabbing herself?! Someone's cheating here!!

But the sword spirit, her injuries healed, gave Xuanxin no chance to complain.

The sword spirit became a white afterimage once more, bringing her blade down at Xuanxin with sword energy fiercer and more violent than before!

Xuanxin hurriedly met the blow, and the two were soon locked in combat again.

Meanwhile, outside the First Division Barracks in the real world, undercurrents had long been stirring, and murderous intent lurked on all sides.

The nobles' death warriors who had been lying in wait finally could not restrain themselves any longer.

Several figures nimbly climbed the First Division's high wall, intending to slip into the courtyard and interfere or assassinate Xuanxin while he was defenseless.

But just as they were about to leap down from the wall...

"Thud, thud..." Several muffled impacts sounded at the foot of the wall.

The elite killers who had tried to infiltrate the barracks did not even have time to scream before they became cold corpses, piled in the shadows in a corner of the courtyard.

"Kyōraku. Don't splatter those vermin's blood on my wall."

Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai sat in the center of the steps with his eyes closed, not so much as lifting an eyelid, as though he were talking about something inconsequential.

"My, my, old man, your standards really are strict."

Shunsui Kyōraku, who had been leaning against a corridor pillar, tipped down his straw hat and put on a flippant smile.

"Still, come to think of it... isn't this because you've been too well-behaved all these years? Now every Tom, Dick, and Harry in Soul Society thinks they can come and test your limits."

At Shunsui's teasing remark about him being "too well-behaved," Old Man Yamamoto's two long white eyebrows twitched slightly, and he gave an icy snort.

"Hmph."

It was only a single syllable.

The next second, a terrifying Reiatsu, scorching enough to make souls tremble, swept over the outskirts of the First Division Barracks like an erupting volcano!

The moisture in the air instantly evaporated, and the temperature around the barracks soared to a terrifying level in mere moments.

"Uh... ah!"

Outside the wall, the killers with weaker Reiatsu who had been waiting for a chance to act clutched their throats in agony under the crushing weight of the scorching Reiatsu, so dense it seemed tangible. They found that the air had been completely drawn from their lungs.

Several blind fools among the killers were stripped of the ability to breathe by that Reiatsu. Their internal organs were crushed, and they died in despair outside the barracks!

Watching Old Man Yamamoto, who made a stunning display whenever he acted, Ukitake said, "Your skills have grown even sharper, as expected, old man."

Only then did the old man stroke his beard in satisfaction. It seemed the flattery from his own student had pleased him greatly.

Nothing happening outside could affect Xuanxin now, and he made his final push toward victory.

By now, the world inside Jinzen no longer looked as it had before.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

"Hadō #31: Shakkahō!"

"Hadō #54: Haien!"

Great chunks of fresh earth had been churned up to the surface, and the once-green grass had been baked dry and yellow by the flames.

Two surges of Reiatsu crashed together in midair, annihilating each other and turning into a rain of fire that filled the sky.

"Clang—!"

Before the curtain of fire had dispersed, the two figures clashed again.

Although Xuanxin appeared to have the advantage for the moment, he knew this would not do.

The sword spirit was a reflection of his soul. She understood everything Xuanxin understood!

To break this deadlock, he had to surpass "imitation"! He had to forge a path of his own, Fujiwara Genshin's own path!

In the midst of this desperate confrontation, a faint spark of insight suddenly flashed through Xuanxin's mind.

But the sword spirit gave Xuanxin no chance to catch his breath. Her figure became a blur as she rushed straight for his throat!

There was no avoiding this strike.

Under the pressure of death, the world around him suddenly slowed in Xuanxin's eyes.

On the precipice between life and death, Xuanxin seized that fleeting spark of insight!

Cast aside the moves from books... forget the rules of reason... and forget instinctive bloodlust...

Fuse the two completely into one!

The light in Xuanxin's eyes hardened. Facing the flash of the sword spirit's blade, he defied common sense and took a step forward!

This is my own strike.

This time, the blade in Xuanxin's hand departed from the established path of Niten Ichi-ryū, freed from the constraints of swordsmanship's rules. It thrust forward along a plain yet wholly natural path.

"Squelch."

With a faint sound, the Asauchi in Xuanxin's hand pierced the chest of the person before him.

There was no spray of blood, nor any struggle at death's door.

The woman who had been pierced stopped moving. Her brilliant eyes gazed quietly at the blade buried in her chest.

Xuanxin panted heavily, his clothes torn to shreds, but he still gripped the hilt tightly as he asked in a low voice:

"I won. Now... can you tell me this Zanpakuto's true name?"

"Yes, you won."

The woman reached out with her pale fingers and casually pulled the wooden sword from her chest.

She looked at Xuanxin, a wild, unrestrained smile suddenly blooming on her beautiful face. Her clear voice echoed through the world of Jinzen:

"Very good. You've finally stepped beyond those rigid sword manuals onto a path of your own, though it's only a tiny, insignificant step."

The two blades in the sword spirit's hands then vanished. A trace of appreciation showed in her deep gaze, along with a sense of release, as though a burden had been lifted.

"But unfortunately, you've asked the wrong person. I don't know its name."

"Oh... all right... wait! What do you mean? What do you mean, you don't know either?"

Xuanxin froze on the spot. He could not understand how the sword spirit could possibly not know her own name.

Seeing Xuanxin's astonishment, the smile on the woman's lips softened.

Then her "sharp aura," along with her splendid exterior, began to peel and crumble away piece by piece, like a sand painting brushed by a breeze!

"Crack—"

Amid the crisp sound of shattering, the proud figure turned into streams of light dancing through the air.

The disguise had been completely stripped away.

When the light faded, what appeared before Xuanxin was no two-sword master, but a boy of about fifteen or sixteen.

He had neat, short black hair and deep black eyes, and he even wore a slightly oversized blue-and-white uniform.

And that face... it looked seventy or eighty percent like Xuanxin's! Or rather, it was exactly what Xuanxin had looked like in his previous life!

Once again, Xuanxin felt a strong sense of confusion and bewilderment. He was just about to ask another question when the black-haired boy before him smiled and waved a hand, cutting him off.