Success at Last

Silver Rend charged at Ye Yang with his sword. Ye Yang's heart was full of guilt, and he had no fighting spirit whatsoever. How could he hope to win?

Ye Yang simply blocked with his sword. As the two blades met, he saw Silver Rend sneer. "Space—Dimensional Slash!" A spatial rift appeared along Silver Rend's blade and began to widen. Ye Yang hurriedly pulled his sword back and used Shunpo to evade the strike.

But Silver Rend was faster! He appeared behind Ye Yang in an instant, though he did not cut him. Instead, he kicked Ye Yang downward. With a boom, Ye Yang hit the ground, leaving a huge crater!

Ye Yang crawled out of the rubble in a sorry state and said bitterly, "You still... can't forgive me?"

Silver Rend said nothing, letting his actions show where he stood. After another exchange, Ye Yang was knocked down again. Silver Rend said with displeasure, "What's wrong? Aren't you going to use your Nine Swords of Dugu? You'll die fighting without any fighting spirit! Or... are you looking down on me?" With that, Silver Rend charged at him again, sword in hand.

This time, Silver Rend unleashed his fiercest assault. His overwhelming fighting spirit nearly smothered Ye Yang. At this rate, Ye Yang really might be killed. At this critical moment, he could no longer afford to worry about anything else and used the Nine Swords of Dugu against Silver Rend.

"That's more like it. You need to show your true strength," Silver Rend reminded him. With the exquisite swordsmanship of the Nine Swords of Dugu, Ye Yang fought Silver Rend to a standstill. Though Silver Rend was fast and his attacks powerful, the Nine Swords of Dugu could anticipate an opponent's moves. Once Ye Yang knew what Silver Rend's next move would be, he could dodge it.

Suddenly, Silver Rend vanished into thin air again. But Ye Yang had anticipated it and had already raised his sword vertically behind him to block the attack. Yet the expected clash of blades never came. Instead, he heard Silver Rend's voice beside his ear. "Space Binding!"

At Silver Rend's words, Ye Yang was suddenly unable to move. The space around him seemed to compress, restraining his movements. Behind him, Silver Rend said, "Winning through skill depends on there being little difference between you and your enemy. But before absolute power, all exquisite moves are empty talk! Strength alone reigns supreme!"

Ye Yang had thought he was sure to die, but Silver Rend did not finish him off. He merely punched Ye Yang and released the Space Binding at the same time. Ye Yang spat blood as he flew backward.

Silver Rend then charged forward and engaged Ye Yang again. Even though Ye Yang used the Nine Swords of Dugu, it was useless against Silver Rend, as if it were a child's trick. Just as Silver Rend had said, before absolute strength, all skill, tricks, and schemes were empty talk. That was what it meant for overwhelming strength to defeat countless clever stratagems.

But Silver Rend always spared Ye Yang at the last moment. With Silver Rend deliberately holding back, Ye Yang could barely keep fighting, though he was knocked to the ground every so often. Watching from afar, Yoruichi was alarmed. She said to Kisuke Urahara, "Hey, Kisuke, did you see that? My monstrous little brother is actually being beaten up like this by his own Zanpakuto! I've never seen him in such a sorry state before."

A faint smile appeared on Kisuke Urahara's lips. "That's because his Zanpakuto is even more monstrous than he is. Did you hear him? He said shortening spatial distances was effortless. He really had the nerve to say something like that."

Three hours passed in the blink of an eye. Ye Yang was covered in wounds. He thought, He should have had plenty of chances to defeat me, but why does he always hold back? Even if he doesn't want to kill me, he could still beat me until I can't fight anymore. Why? Could it be...

Silver Rend interrupted his thoughts. "Losing focus in a fight? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Silver Rend appeared behind Ye Yang in an instant and brought his leg down squarely between his shoulder blades. Boom! Another huge crater appeared. Ye Yang had lost count of how many times he had been knocked down, but he stubbornly stood up again.

Ye Yang thought, If that's the case, take a gamble. He charged straight at Silver Rend, thrusting his sword at his chest. But how could such crude swordsmanship do anything to Silver Rend? He knocked Ye Yang's strike aside with his sword and thrust back at him.

Ye Yang first held his sword across his chest. With a clang, Silver Rend's sword tip pressed against the flat of his blade. But then Ye Yang did something that stunned everyone: he turned the blade so its edge faced him. As a result, Silver Rend's sword continued toward Ye Yang's chest under its own momentum. Instead of dodging, Ye Yang released his sword, spread his arms, closed his eyes, and opened his heart, letting nature take its course. Silver Rend then plunged into Ye Yang's chest without obstruction.

The sight stunned Yoruichi and Kisuke Urahara. Yoruichi could not resist coming forward, but Ye Yang stopped her with a wave. "Don't come over. I'm fine."

Yoruichi said urgently, "You've been run through! How could you possibly be fine?"

Ye Yang did not answer Yoruichi. Instead, he said to Silver Rend, "Silver Rend, are you finally willing to forgive me?"

"I'm your Zanpakuto. As long as you truly accept me, how could I possibly hurt you? As long as you acknowledge me from the bottom of your heart, I won't hurt you."

Although Silver Rend had run Ye Yang through, the sword Silver Rend held was his Shikai Zanpakuto. How could an ordinary Zanpakuto possibly hurt its master? So when Silver Rend pierced him, Ye Yang did not feel the slightest pain, confirming that his idea was correct.

Silver Rend continued, "If you hadn't accepted me in your heart just now, you really would have been killed."

A smile of victory appeared on Ye Yang's lips. "If I didn't trust you, why would I have let you run me through? What about my Bankai, then?"

Silver Rend's body was slowly fading. The Tenshintai's time limit was nearly up. A moment before he disappeared, Silver Rend said, "You passed. Make good use of my abilities. I..."

Silver Rend's final words were soundless, but Ye Yang could clearly see his lips forming the words: "My full strength hasn't been revealed yet. You'll have to discover my other abilities yourself."

Ye Yang watched Silver Rend disappear impassively and said in a voice only he could hear, "Don't worry. I won't fight alone anymore."

Finally, Silver Rend vanished, and an Asauchi appeared on the Tenshintai. Ye Yang slowly drew Silver Rend out and sheathed him, standing there for a long time, unable to calm down...

By then, Yoruichi and Kisuke Urahara had come over. Yoruichi patted Ye Yang on the shoulder and said, "Good grief, I really don't know what to say about you. You mastered Bankai in just one day—no, to be precise, three hours. Are you really human?"

Kisuke Urahara said to Ye Yang, "My, my, I guessed long ago that you might take less time than I did, but I never expected you to do it in just three hours. Amazing!"

"By the way, I saw you get run through just now. Are you really all right?" Yoruichi asked. After all, Ye Yang's health was still her greatest concern.

"I'm fine. Thinking about it carefully, that was probably a test Silver Rend gave me. If I truly acknowledged Silver Rend, his sword wouldn't hurt me. See? There's nothing wrong with me now, is there?"

Yoruichi pressed a hand to her forehead. "Your Zanpakuto really is unusual, giving you a test like that. He's your Zanpakuto, all right. Even your difficult personalities are the same."

"Tch, I'm nothing like that guy who poses to look cool."

"How are you different?"

"I really am handsome!" Ye Yang said shamelessly.

"See? I told you..."

Another idea suddenly occurred to Yoruichi. "Since all three of us have finished training our Bankai, shouldn't we have a spar using them?"

Ye Yang smiled. "Looks like you're very confident in your Bankai. Have you gotten a basic grasp of it after a few days of training?"

Yoruichi said knowingly, "Hehe, in a few more days I'll lose my chance to beat you, so of course I'm going to pick on you while you've only just learned it."

"Honestly, that won't work," Kisuke Urahara interjected. Yoruichi immediately grabbed him by the clothes. "What did you say?"

Kisuke Urahara hurriedly raised both hands and explained, "It's not that I don't want to. It's just that my Benihime isn't suited to sparring or training others."

"Hm?" Yoruichi and Ye Yang asked at the same time.

Kisuke Urahara continued, "My Bankai is only suited to fights to the death! Either you die or I do! So... sorry."

Ye Yang took the opportunity to say, "All right, sis, stop dwelling on it. It's not bad to keep a trump card, and besides, with an unknown Bankai in hand, we'll feel reassured about one another, won't we?"

Yoruichi still looked reluctant, but since both of them had said so, she could hardly argue. She could only say, "All right, never mind. Let's call it a day. Come on, let's go home."

The three returned to Seireien together. Just as they were about to part ways, a masked, black-clad Soul Reaper appeared before them, a member of the Punishment Force. Upon seeing them, he immediately dropped to one knee and said, "Lieutenant Yoruichi, Third Seat Ye Yang, Fifth Seat Urahara, the commander-in-chief told me to inform you to return to the Second Division immediately."

"All right, understood. You can go. We'll head back right away."

"Yes, ma'am!"

After the Punishment Force member left, Yoruichi said to the other two, "Grandpa wants to see us? Could there be another mission?"

Ye Yang shook his head. "That can't be it. What kind of mission would require all three of us?"

Kisuke Urahara said, "Rather than guessing here, why don't we go find out..."

"What? You want us to be instructors at Shin'ō? You're not joking, are you?" Yoruichi said loudly in the captain's office, paying no heed to the fact that the man beside her was her grandfather and her captain, Shihoin Tōno.

Shihoin Tōno looked helpless. "This is an order from above. There's nothing I can do to change it."

As he spoke, he handed Yoruichi a sheet of paper. Written on it were the words: "The following three members of the Second Division are appointed instructors at Shin'ō Academy: Lieutenant Yoruichi Shihōin, Third Seat Ye Yang Shihoin, and Fifth Seat Kisuke Urahara. Yoruichi Shihōin shall teach Shunpo, Ye Yang Shihoin shall teach Hakuda, and Kisuke Urahara shall teach Kidō. They shall assume their posts the day after this appointment is issued, without fail!"