This Invincible Zanpakuto

"There's no need to put on an act with me."

"Didn't you come to Shin'ō Academy to recover the part of Rangiku Matsumoto that Aizen took from her?"

"On certain matters, I'm your natural ally. You ought to trust me."

Gin Ichimaru looked at him, his smile fading entirely.

"How do you know about that?"

"Why worry about that?"

He rose to his feet at a leisurely pace.

Kyōsuke Kuchiki gave the young man a very friendly pat on the shoulder.

At this stage, he needed an ally—or rather, a future undercover agent.

And Gin Ichimaru was the best choice.

"You want revenge, and I'm willing to help you. That's all you need to know. As a token of our alliance, I can tell you what Kyōka Suigetsu really does."

"Everyone who sees his Shikai falls under Complete Hypnosis."

"After that, Kyōka Suigetsu can manipulate your five senses, even your perception of Reiatsu."

Gin Ichimaru was still young, after all, nothing like the old fox he would be a century later. With his purpose suddenly exposed and such news following on its heels, his expression turned ugly at once.

To observe his enemy, he had watched Aizen's Shikai very closely.

There was no need to say it: he had definitely fallen victim to it.

"You saw Kyōka Suigetsu's Shikai too, didn't you?"

"How can you help me?"

Kyōsuke Kuchiki immediately smiled at that.

"Who said I saw it?"

His fingers moved slightly, and mysterious ancient script swiftly appeared, coiling around his wrist.

Without the slightest warning, Gin Ichimaru's vision went black in an instant.

"You—!"

His whole body jolted!

Before Gin Ichimaru could draw his Zanpakuto, everything returned to normal.

Looking at the young man before him, he slowly relaxed.

"What if he uses Kyōka Suigetsu again later? You can't keep your eyes off it forever, can you?"

By then, I'll have unlocked Grand Luo Insight. Why the hell would I be afraid of an illusion technique!

Kyōsuke Kuchiki certainly wasn't going to say that.

"I have my own way."

"...Young Master Kuchiki, what do you want me to do?"

"It's simple, Ichimaru. Just follow my plan."

"..."

With Kyōsuke Kuchiki guiding things, the plot would certainly continue to follow the original story for the time being.

The difference was that Gin Ichimaru's infiltration and his approach to Aizen would all be under Kyōsuke's control.

When the time came, all information about Aizen would reach him through Gin Ichimaru.

But before that, the most important thing was to keep training, grind his proficiency in the Heaven Communicating Talisman Art to one hundred percent as soon as possible, and unlock the next of the Eight Extraordinary Skills.

Three months later, on the mountain behind Shin'ō Academy.

Amid the green bamboo covering the mountains and plains, a tall, upright young man stood quietly.

His left hand held the scabbard, his right gripped the hilt.

His eyes were closed, and an air of silent killing intent emanated from his back.

The next second, he drew his Zanpakuto like lightning. Its snowy gleam swept through the air like a flash of cold moonlight.

"Bombard and resound! Dijiang!"

Kyōsuke Kuchiki's Reiatsu instantly surged by at least severalfold. Spiritual power, compressed to its limit, gathered along the blade and formed an eerie blue glow.

As the blade swept through, a vast swath of emerald bamboo ahead was severed clean through the middle, leaving a huge gap in the grove!

Yet not a single scrap fell to the ground.

The severed bamboo was left full of gaps, parts of it seemingly evaporated into thin air without a trace.

The cut surfaces were incomparably smooth, utterly unlike cuts made by ordinary blades.

The young man's figure had long since vanished from where he stood, without a sound. At some unknown point, he had appeared in the sky above the bamboo grove.

He slowly opened his eyes.

Kyōsuke Kuchiki glanced back and sheathed his Zanpakuto.

"I've trained for so long already, but the length I can erase is still limited to this."

"It seems this ability really can't advance any further."

"..."

Chapter 10: This Invincible Zanpakuto

Not long ago, Kyōsuke Kuchiki's proficiency in the Heaven Communicating Talisman Art, one of the Eight Extraordinary Skills, had finally reached ninety percent!

During that time, he had also finally awakened his Shikai and heard his Zanpakuto calling to him.

His Asauchi had instantly transformed into his Zanpakuto, Dijiang.

A pale red scabbard enclosed its snowy blade. Above its sculpted wing-shaped guard was a pure black hilt, with a deep crimson tassel hanging from the end.

Unlike its owner's easygoing, carefree personality, the Zanpakuto radiated an unsettling, fearful aura from end to end.

Its function, too, was simplicity itself.

Upon Shikai, it automatically gained the terrifying effect of a tenfold amplification.

Whether it was Kidō, talismans, or the effects of the Six Treasury Immortal Thief, everything was amplified tenfold as long as he was in Shikai!

In just a few years, the Six Treasury Immortal Thief could bring Kyōsuke Kuchiki's Reiatsu to the terrifying Captain level.

Let alone with a tenfold amplification!

Even Kyōsuke Kuchiki, the Zanpakuto's owner, couldn't imagine how strong he would be a few years from now.

And the tenfold amplification was only Dijiang's passive ability.

Besides that, Dijiang also possessed an active ability called Space Erasure.

Wherever its blade reached, it could erase space and obliterate everything!

Water, flames, boulders... even energy in the conceptual sense—anything that existed within space would vanish along with the space erased!

Neither a Soul Reaper's Reiatsu defense, a Hollow's Hierro, nor a Quincy's Blut Vene could withstand a casual swing of Kyōsuke Kuchiki's blade.

That was right. Kyōsuke Kuchiki's Zanpakuto was a space-type, unheard of throughout Soul Society!

Although Shunsui Kyōraku's Katen Kyōkotsu also had the space-type Kageoni game, it involved only a secret art of hiding in shadows. It was merely a support ability and couldn't be considered a pure space-type Zanpakuto.

However, Kyōsuke Kuchiki had no intention of telling anyone about Space Erasure.

He planned to pass Dijiang off as a simple enhancement-type Zanpakuto.

When telling others about it, he would say only that Dijiang's Shikai could amplify Reiatsu and the power of Kidō—and not tenfold, but only fivefold.

Even with the more astonishing Space Erasure ability hidden, a tenfold amplification was still a little too frightening.

Suddenly, a figure leaped in behind Kyōsuke Kuchiki.

"Young Master Kuchiki, hiding here to practice again?"

Gin Ichimaru wore a smile, his Zanpakuto already drawn and its blade aimed forward.

"Shoot to kill, Shinsō!"

Clang!

Without even looking, Kyōsuke Kuchiki casually drew his blade. Without so much as using Shikai, he knocked the oncoming silver spear tip aside by sheer force.

"Ichimaru, how long have you been playing this trick?"

"Aren't you bored of it yet?"

"Since I have no chance to fight you head-on, of course I can only use little tricks like this to test your strength."

"If I'm lucky, I might catch a glimpse of something useful."

Gin Ichimaru released his Shikai and spoke with a half-genuine smile.

With his own secret and ultimate goal at stake, Gin Ichimaru naturally wouldn't let his guard down.

Before, his strength had been insufficient, and he couldn't do anything.

After attaining Shikai, Gin Ichimaru had begun secretly testing Kyōsuke Kuchiki, wanting to see whether his offer was genuine.

There was also a small element of competitiveness in it.

Geniuses were always proud.

Gin Ichimaru didn't believe he was inferior to Kyōsuke Kuchiki in every respect.

Not bothering to deal with Gin Ichimaru, Kyōsuke Kuchiki headed toward the academy with Shunpo, while Gin Ichimaru followed at a moderate distance.

"Why did you come to get me?"

"That lieutenant from the Sixth Division has arrived."

As they spoke, the two arrived at the academy's reception room.

Byakuya Kuchiki sat calmly on the sofa, an academy teacher trembling before him.

"Big brother."

Hearing the familiar address, he raised his head, and his impassive gaze softened a little.

"Kyōsuke, have you finished practicing?"

"Mm!"

Kyōsuke Kuchiki answered and sat down to the side.

"What did you come to see me about?"

"We were discussing having you and Ichimaru skip grades."

The academy teacher hurriedly spoke up.

"The academy's classes aren't much help to either of you anymore, are they?"

"As it happens, the sixth-years will soon begin preparing for the seated officer matches."

"Oh, and Ichimaru, quite a few divisions have sent you invitations. You can start considering them now."

"..."

As he spoke, he took Gin Ichimaru aside and began asking him questions in detail.

Kyōsuke Kuchiki had long since instructed Gin Ichimaru to get as close to Aizen as possible without being too obvious, so he wasn't worried that Ichimaru would make the wrong choice.

"Big brother, what did you come to see me for?"

He sat casually on the sofa and looked at Byakuya.

Byakuya paused, then slowly asked:

"I heard..."

"You really want to join the Fifth Division, where Lieutenant Aizen serves?"

"..."