A New Teacher

Kūkaku clamped her arm around Dōsan's neck, as if scooping the moon from the bottom of the sea.

She didn't think much of it. Explosions were all too common when beginners practiced her family's fireworks cannon without sufficient control.

"Sorry, big sis-sama. I'm actually the one who messed up the Kidō," Ganju said, watching his eldest sister carefully.

(○o○)

Dōsan felt the pressure on his neck ease, and the suffocating sensation vanished.

When he looked up again, the slender Kūkaku had already hoisted Ganju up. With her slim, delicate arms, she swung his wild-boar-like body around like a windmill.

Isshin Shiba watched the spectacle from the side, rubbing the stubble on his chin as he looked at the training hall—or rather, through its solid structure at the Spiritual Pressure leaking out from inside.

To Isshin, there was no doubt that the stray Spiritual Pressure was the result of a failed attempt to cast a mid-level Kidō spell.

Was Ganju teaching Dōsan Kidō?

Who started a Soul Reaper's training with Kidō?

Ganju wasn't that clueless. If he had taught Dōsan Kidō, he must have had a reason.

Masaka?

Isshin Shiba turned his gaze back to Dōsan Hanyū, his expression growing grave. His slanted, dead-fish eyes seemed intent on seeing straight through Dōsan.

Just who is this little guy?

As Kūkaku swung him through two full rotations, Ganju desperately tried to explain himself.

Dōsan Hanyū breathed a sigh of relief as the tense training atmosphere lifted. The sudden relaxation left every joint in his body aching and weak.

But in the next instant, Dōsan raised a white eyebrow and, seemingly on instinct, lifted his right hand to shield the left side of his face. A delicate fist tapped his hand with a smack, and a faint fragrance reached his nose, making him blush slightly.

Immediately afterward, a smooth, pale leg with skin as fine as jade swept up toward Dōsan's face. He leaned his head back and took three small steps away, then looked up at Kūkaku Shiba, who had her chin raised slightly.

"Not bad, kid. From here on, I'll teach you a Soul Reaper's Zankensoki."

Kūkaku held down the white silk on her head and swept her hand out, letting her silky hair spill loose. She twirled her pipe twice around her finger, tucked it into her sash, and gently exhaled a faint, fragrant cloud of smoke.

"Here I come."

Dōsan had still been absorbed in the sight of Sister Kūkaku's face, but in the next instant, she charged at him.

"So fast! Is that Shunpo?"

Dōsan tried to retreat, but almost instantly, his calf, right side of his abdomen, and shoulder were each tapped lightly.

So fast.

And so strong.

It wasn't just that her Shunpo overwhelmed him. Even with his lack of experience, Dōsan could understand what it meant for her to hold back and merely tap him three times while attacking him head-on.

She was stronger than him by who knew how many times.

"Kid, give me everything you've got. Let me see what a genius who's only trained for one day can do."

Her voice drifted from place to place. In that single sentence, Dōsan felt as though it had come from every direction.

She was moving at high speed, using Shunpo again.

Sister Kūkaku was moving rapidly around him.

Though inwardly startled, Dōsan explained sincerely, "Miss Kūkaku, I'm no genius. I just work a little harder than other people."

"There he goes again." Ganju, his face bruised and swollen, looked up with tears threatening to fall. I'm only in this mess because I believed your nonsense.

"You little brat, you really are annoying. Next up, your left."

The moment she finished speaking, friction from the Spiritual Pressure bursting forth at high speed produced an indescribable burning sensation on Dōsan's left cheek.

Alarmed, Dōsan didn't dare hesitate. Even though he couldn't clearly sense Kūkaku's position, he followed her hint and raised the two index fingers on his right hand.

"Hadō #4: Byakurai."

"What?" Kūkaku cried.

So fast!

Byakurai was one of the fastest Kidō spells to cast, and Dōsan used it with even greater ease. He simply extended his fingers and pointed, and lightning surged.

Even with her skill in Shunpo, she couldn't dodge this attack normally.

And if she took a Byakurai head-on at this distance, her face might be blown apart.

Without hesitation, Kūkaku planted her left foot and deliberately let it slide, throwing her body horizontal in midair.

But because of that difficult acrobatic move, Kūkaku spun sideways in the air more than ten times like a motor before landing face-first on the mat.

Sugoi!

Isshin Shiba's mind began racing as he replayed the scene.

For someone who had only just started learning Kidō to cast Byakurai so easily and smoothly showed astonishing talent. Kūkaku had probably realized that too.

But it was far more than that.

There was one thing that Kūkaku-chan might not have had the experience to understand.

In that situation, from Dōsan's position as the weaker fighter, Byakurai had been his only chance to win with a single blow.

At least, from the perspective of a super captain like Isshin, there had been no other option.

And in that situation, if Dōsan had been facing not Kūkaku, but an ordinary division's 10th Seat—no, even a Fifth Seat—

The result would have been a direct headshot from Byakurai.

Dōsan had only just begun learning Kidō, so he probably hadn't planned it deliberately. Nor was it very likely that he had happened to use the perfect Byakurai by sheer luck.

There was only one answer.

Battle talent?

Without anyone teaching him, he had been born knowing how to fight. The destination others spent their whole lives striving for was merely his starting point.

Isshin Shiba let out a breath. There were all kinds of geniuses in the world, and he knew another person with the same gift: Kenpachi Zaraki.

Isshin's heart trembled. He was a little surprised, and a little envious too, though he wasn't particularly keen on fighting.

Where had he—no, where had that Matsumoto found a freak like this?

He shook his head and thought of something pleasant.

A kid like this should be able to join the Tenth Division and handle his paperwork soon, right?

On the battlefield, Kūkaku remained down for a long while, her face still pressed against the mat.

Snot ran from Ganju's nose, and his swollen face twitched as he covered his eyes with both hands and muttered, "I didn't see it. I didn't see anything."

Dōsan stepped forward awkwardly. "I'm terribly sorry, Miss Kūkaku. Are you all right?"

Still lying facedown with her face against the mat, Kūkaku gave a little shudder and spoke in a somewhat muffled voice. "Brother Kaien once said that wherever you stand is a battlefield.

"I should be the one apologizing. I took the fight too lightly."

With that, Kūkaku bowed to Dōsan with great solemnity. Her serious manner was like someone paying respects at a grave, and her politeness left Dōsan at a loss.

"Next up, your left."

A sense of danger welled up in Dōsan's heart. Relying on her hint and his instincts, he raised a hand to block on the left, but a tremendous force struck from the opposite side. Unable to react in time, he was sent flying into the wall, where his whole body became embedded.

Dōsan didn't dare rest. He pulled himself out of the wall like a green onion being uprooted.

"When you're fighting, you can't just listen to what your enemy says." Kūkaku's nose and face were red from the fall, and she spoke through gritted teeth. "Dō. San. Chan!"

"Next attack, above!"

Dōsan couldn't react in time. His mind couldn't keep up with Kūkaku's speed, and his body followed her spoken "hint" as though by instinct.

Dōsan looked up unconsciously, then, in the next instant, ducked on fighting instinct. All he saw was a pair of smooth, jade-like feet, soft and boneless, kicking up from below.

The only thing Dōsan could do was widen his eyes and brace himself for the pain to come.

"Ahh~ dame!!!"

Although Dōsan Hanyū had already learned the basics of Kidō, Shunpo, and Hakuda, that only meant he could use them. The leap from "using them" to "using them in actual combat" was not so easily made, but in the course of that afternoon, Dōsan had made tremendous progress.

Watching Dōsan continue to look for a chance to counterattack despite the constant beating he was taking, even Isshin Shiba, a Captain-level fighter among the strongest in Soul Society, couldn't help looking forward to what he would become.

Just how far could this kid grow?