Realization / A Mysterious Figure

However...

When everyone saw the area before them clearly, the fervent fighting spirit in the air was mercilessly doused like a bucket of ice water over their heads. The atmosphere froze instantly.

There were no nimble leopards, no giant crocodiles covered in bony spikes, and certainly no sense of danger that could make their souls tremble.

All they could see were five or six black "telephone poles" standing like pillars, draped in ragged black robes and wearing long-nosed white masks.

Looking at the handful of Gillians doing their utmost to cosplay as telephone poles, the group lapsed into a long, peculiar silence.

"Uh... that's it?"

A Fifth Seat of the 11th Division awkwardly lowered his sword, his voice full of disappointment.

Yoruichi also pursed her lips in disappointment and grumbled, "What the heck? I thought it would be an Adjuchas. I didn't expect it to be just a bunch of 'telephone poles.'"

Even Xuanxin couldn't quite hide the flash of disappointment in his eyes.

Kuruyashiki took in their disdainful, disappointed expressions, but instead of getting angry, he burst into merciless laughter.

"Hahahaha! What, you've lost interest already? Think this prey isn't enough to fill the gaps between your teeth?"

Kuruyashiki leaped onto a towering rock and swept a stern gaze over everyone before saying, "Put away that ridiculous arrogance, brats!"

"Did watching me chop up that Adjuchas like it was nothing give you the illusion that you could take one head-on too? You're a long way from that!"

The blunt scolding made the group, who had been rather full of themselves, flush and lower their heads.

"Want to fight an Adjuchas? Dream on! These thick-skinned Gillians are just right for you as you are now!"

Once everyone had come to their senses, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi pointed his Zanpakuto straight at the giant Gillians, which were slowly turning their heads. A smile curled his lips as he said:

"Quit your complaining! This is your assignment for today, rookies! Your real hunt... is only just beginning!!!"

Meanwhile, a leopard arrived with a group of Hollows at the spot where the Adjuchas's corpse had been. After looking around, they departed in the opposite direction from the group.

Chapter 31: Realization

"Begin!"

At Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's command, which rumbled like thunder, the frozen air in the basin exploded into action.

Xuanxin and Yoruichi naturally teamed up. They didn't even need to exchange words. With a single glance at each other, they shot toward the largest Gillian in the group like two bolts of lightning, one black and one purple.

Seeing how fierce the two young juniors were, the other Seated Officers felt their pride as members of a combat division ignite.

"Hey, hey, hey! Quit standing around! Are we going to let the Second Division's brats steal the show?!"

"Everyone from the 11th Division, draw your swords! Attack!"

The group quickly divided into combat teams and closed in on the remaining Gillians.

"Roar—!"

Faced with two Soul Reapers who looked like ants to it, the Gillian let out a sluggish growl. It raised an arm like a giant stone pillar and clumsily stomped down at Xuanxin and Yoruichi.

"Heh, too slow!"

A confident smile curled Yoruichi's lips. She twisted sharply in midair, easily dodging the stomp, then used the momentum to race up the Gillian's arm.

"Hadō #31: Shakkahō!"

A blazing red fireball erupted from Yoruichi's palm and struck the Gillian's deathly pale mask, exploding into a cloud of black smoke.

Though the Hadō, cast without the full incantation, didn't inflict a fatal wound, it succeeded in drawing all of the Gillian's ire. Just as the furious Gillian opened its mouth to charge a Cero—

"Slash—!"

Two black blade flashes sliced smoothly through the air. Taking advantage of the opening Yoruichi had created, Xuanxin had appeared behind the Gillian's neck at some point.

Gripping his Zanpakuto with both hands, he twisted his waist. A cold flash swept past, and he cleanly severed the enormous monster's head with one stroke!

Their entire combination flowed smoothly, without a single wasted movement. It was as easy as an ordinary practice session.

However, just as Xuanxin and Yoruichi landed steadily and prepared to receive praise,

"Not good enough! Terrible! Full of openings!"

Standing on a rock nearby with his arms folded, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, who had watched the whole fight, gave them a harsh and merciless scolding.

"Yoruichi, your Shunpo turnaround was fast, but your Reiatsu stalled for a tenth of a second when you changed direction in midair! Against an Adjuchas, that instant would've been enough for it to tear you to pieces!"

"And you, Xuanxin!" Kuruyashiki abruptly turned on him.

"You used seventy percent of your strength to cut down a Gillian that doesn't even have a brain? Do you think your Reiatsu grows on trees?! When your blade went into its neck, why did you have to fight its bones? No matter how sharp your Zanpakuto is, that won't do! You're wasting Reiatsu!!"

The two of them froze at the stinging rebuke, their formerly relaxed expressions turning serious.

"What are you standing around for?! Keep going! Keep going! Another one!" Kuruyashiki waved a hand and casually pointed at another Gillian as he shouted.

Xuanxin and Yoruichi exchanged a glance, immediately put aside all their disdain, and charged seriously at the next Gillian.

During this fight, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi became the strictest drill instructor imaginable.

He scrutinized their fighting with a piercing gaze while giving them real-time instruction from the sidelines in his booming voice.

"Xuanxin! Make your swings smaller! Use your wrist, not your shoulder!"

"Yoruichi, the essence of Hakuda isn't brute strength, it's short-range force! Strike the nodes where its Reishi flows!"

Under his scolding, the two rapidly absorbed the combat experience bought with countless lives and blood.

Xuanxin's swordsmanship grew more concise and more lethal. Yoruichi's Shunpo and Hakuda also began to shed their flashy "academy style," becoming fiercer and more practical.

While instructing them, Kuruyashiki also kept an eye on the 11th Division's Seated Officers fighting on the other side.

This was precisely Kuruyashiki's aim. He had deliberately thrown the two "catfish," Xuanxin and Yoruichi, into the pond of 11th Division veterans.

Watching the two absurdly young brats cut down Gillians as easily as chopping vegetables and grow visibly stronger under their captain's guidance, the veterans, who had grown somewhat complacent, felt a sharp sense of urgency.

"Damn it, we can't let the Second Division brats outdo us! We'll never live it down!"

Amid this outrageous atmosphere of competition, the Gillians in the basin suffered a devastating blow.

"Splurt!"

When Xuanxin precisely shattered the third Gillian's mask with a single stroke, its massive body slowly dissolved into Reishi that filled the sky.

"All right, that's enough!"

Kuruyashiki Kenpachi looked at Xuanxin and Yoruichi, whose fighting styles had transformed, and nodded in satisfaction.

He slung his Zanpakuto over his shoulder, glanced at the still-bleak crescent moon on the horizon, and announced loudly, "That's it for today. Everyone, return to base and rest! Tomorrow we'll change coordinates and keep mowing them down!"

After returning to base, Yoruichi was so worn out from the intensive use of Shunpo that she barely ate dinner before crawling into her tent and falling fast asleep.

Xuanxin, however, didn't rest immediately. He sat cross-legged on the white sand outside his tent and gently laid Mumyō and Shingon across his knees.

He closed his eyes, regulated his breathing, and steadily sank his consciousness into the depths of his mind once more.

Jinzen.

Ever since releasing his Zanpakuto, Xuanxin had rarely practiced Jinzen. Today, however, inspiration struck, and he naturally slipped into the state of Jinzen.

When Xuanxin's consciousness passed through that familiar layer of darkness and entered his sword spirit's world once more,

"This is..."

Xuanxin opened his eyes in surprise.

Sure enough, just as he had expected, ever since that "false sword spirit" had left the Jinzen world, the previously empty sword world had finally shown a hint of change!

At the edge of the grassland, something seemed ready to tear the entire world apart. At the same time, the barrier that had held his realm firmly in place had finally begun to loosen!

Though he still couldn't clearly hear his sword spirit's call, he was certain that his Bankai was only a matter of days away.

"Soon..."

Having clearly sensed this change, Xuanxin didn't rush to break through.

He calmly withdrew from Jinzen and opened his eyes, waiting for the perfect moment that would let him tear through the darkness completely and achieve a true transformation.

However, over the next few days, the same routine continued.

During the day, they trained intensely under Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's guidance.

Although Xuanxin had improved tremendously in both his use of Reiatsu and his killing techniques, the insight he needed to take that final step remained elusive.

The feeling of being stuck made even the usually composed Xuanxin feel a rare trace of anxiety.

Just then, he suddenly remembered what Retsu Unohana had said to him during their fight in the Fourth Division.

"True breakthroughs can only ever be born between life and death in their purest form."

He understood that as long as he remained under Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's absolutely safe "protective umbrella," he would never feel the true fear of death.

So, one peaceful evening, Xuanxin approached Kuruyashiki Kenpachi in front of everyone and proposed the idea he had been planning for days.

Xuanxin met Kenpachi's oppressive gaze with his black eyes and spoke in a grave, resolute voice:

"Captain Kuruyashiki, starting tomorrow, I'd like to leave the group temporarily and carry out the cleanup mission alone."

Chapter 32: A Mysterious Figure

The tent, which had still been somewhat noisy from the day's battle, fell deathly silent the moment Xuanxin spoke.

Everyone froze. The 11th Division's Seated Officers turned one after another to stare at Xuanxin in utter disbelief.

They looked at him as though he were a drunk lunatic spouting nonsense.

Here, deep in Hueco Mundo and surrounded by high-level Menos Grandes, a Shin'ō Academy student who wasn't even a Seated Officer wanted to leave the main group and carry out a cleanup mission alone?

How was that any different from washing his neck and sticking it into a Hollow's mouth?

"Smack!"

In the suffocating silence, Yoruichi slapped her thigh and sprang to her feet.

Ignoring the teasing looks from everyone around her, she used Shunpo to rush in front of Xuanxin.

But because of their height difference, Yoruichi had to tilt her head up slightly, displeased, and fix her golden eyes on Xuanxin's face.

She put a hand to her own forehead to check its temperature, then pressed it against Xuanxin's forehead and compared the two.

Yoruichi frowned deeply and glared at Xuanxin. "That's odd. You don't have a fever! If you don't have a fever, why are you talking nonsense? Did a Gillian step on your head today? Is something bothering you, Xuanxin?"

Feeling the soft warmth against his forehead, Xuanxin smiled helplessly.

He naturally raised his hand and moved Yoruichi's wrist away from his forehead. Then he looked seriously into her eyes, his dark eyes and voice showing no hint of a joke.

"I'm fine, Yoruichi. I'm more clearheaded than ever. This isn't a passing impulse. I've been thinking about it for days."

Yoruichi's pupils contracted slightly. She knew Xuanxin too well: whenever he looked like that, it meant he had made a decision no one could change.

Yoruichi fell silent for a moment, then gritted her teeth and opened her mouth to argue.