Chapter 45
"Not bad, not bad. Getting out really does temper a person better than shutting yourself away and training at the Spiritual Arts Academy."
Mitarai first nodded in satisfaction, then immediately turned to Kaiwan and said:
"Kaiwan."
"You're in luck today."
The smile on Mitarai's face never changed—whether it was genuine or not, anyone who could cultivate that kind of skill was unquestionably a master at dealing with people.
"Haruto is the most gifted student the Spiritual Arts Academy has had in over a decade. Getting to know him early might give you a chance to get inside someday."
Inside, of course, meant Seireitei.
Though Kaiwan enjoyed a lofty status in Rukongai, he was still a gatekeeper, and his work kept him on duty nearly twenty-four hours a day.
Only Kaiwan himself knew the pros and cons.
After Mitarai's hint, which might as well have been explicit—
"Since Director Mitarai has vouched for him."
Director was naturally a flattering title, but as far as Kaiwan was concerned, Mitarai might not have been as strong as him, yet being a minor official with relative freedom at a place like Shin'ō Academy was far better than being a gatekeeper.
"Shing."
Kaiwan moved his Zanpakuto aside.
"Then there's certainly no problem."
Respect went both ways; everyone had to do their part to keep up appearances.
"My apologies, Brother Haruto."
Kaiwan looked apologetically at Haruto as he spoke, even putting himself a generation below him from the outset... He had just been speaking to Mitarai as an equal.
"Not at all, not at all."
Haruto hurriedly replied politely.
His gaze swept between Mitarai and Kaiwan, though so subtly it was almost impossible to notice. Mitarai wasn't a teacher for his year, and while he had always treated Haruto well enough, he had never been this over the top.
Had he seen through Haruto's strength?
That was next to impossible. Mitarai's eye for such things wasn't necessarily any better than Kaiwan's. The more likely explanation
was the Live-Blade Match.
"If the guardians of all four gates were as fair and dutiful as you, Brother Kaiwan, it would be a blessing for our Seireitei!"
When it came to pleasantries and empty talk, Haruto was no less adept than either of them.
At the entrance to Shin'ō Academy.
Haruto said goodbye to the overly enthusiastic Mitarai.
Their conversation had revealed that the man had spent the whole night enjoying himself in East District 6's pleasure district and had only just returned after eating breakfast.
Haruto looked at the two fried cakes in his hand, which had gone somewhat cold.
"Is that really something you can just talk about...?"
He recalled the boastful tone Teacher Mitarai had used.
"And he sounded so pleased with himself. Don't tell me Teacher Mitarai thinks this counts as having visited a brothel together, 'beep' and all?"
When it came to ways of bringing people closer, the four iron bonds of life had already laid them out clearly.
"..."
"No, at Teacher Mitarai's age, he's probably genuinely proud of himself."
Mitarai's white hair wasn't dyed. Even if he wasn't as extreme as Ginrei Kuchiki, he had to be at least a few hundred years old. Though he had even muddled his way into a high-ranking Seated Officer position, living that long was a skill in itself.
"Rustle."
Haruto opened the waxed paper in his hand.
Both fried cakes were gone in less than half a minute. It was a free breakfast, after all, and he would have been foolish to turn it down. Besides, it had been a while since Haruto had eaten anything so rich, and the sweet red bean filling put him in a good mood.
Haruto walked through Shin'ō Academy's gates as he ate.
His goal today was clear: the underground training ground where he had sparred with Byakuya. Because he didn't know whether using the Kidō Orbs would have any effects, Haruto had put off using these two treasures until now.
Taking advantage of the fact that the teachers hadn't arrived yet, Haruto made his way to the director's office with practiced ease.
"Beep!"
Following the sequence of Reiatsu injections Byakuya had left him, Haruto easily opened the hidden Kidō lock by the wall.
The familiar, spacious training ground brought him a different kind of reassurance.
"Let's begin."
Haruto sat cross-legged and placed the Kidō Orbs for Dankū and Kyōmon on the floor in front of him.
He had originally planned to use the Gaki Rekko orb to see what was special about training in Kidō with a Kidō Orb, but it was already on cooldown. The former Seventh Division Twelfth Seat he had killed had been right about one thing: he really had only recently learned Gaki Rekko.
Haruto picked up Dankū and slowly infused it with his Reiatsu.
"Ding."
As an ethereal sound rang out in his mind, Haruto felt as though he had entered a world of consciousness formed by the Kidō Orb. A short distance ahead of him, a Shinigami with indistinct features, dressed in a Shihakushō and even wearing a Captain's Haori, was loudly chanting Dankū's incantation.
At the same time.
Haruto's view became markedly different.
In this space of consciousness, he could actually make out traces of Reiatsu with the naked eye: both the flow of Reiatsu within the Shinigami and the process by which it reacted with the surrounding Reishi and formed a wall of Dankū.
Not only that.
The process of casting Dankū was slowed down several dozen times, and that ethereal sensation of his mental power being enhanced lasted throughout.
"Whoosh!"
When his consciousness was pulled back into the real world, a brief spell of dizziness suddenly struck Haruto. It vanished quickly after he held his head for a few seconds.
"..."
Haruto glanced at the Kidō-powered clock on the wall.
"Ten minutes."
"The instruction and the insights afterward—the Reiatsu a Kidō Orb absorbs naturally over half a year is only enough to sustain it for that long."
"But..."
Haruto flexed his fingers.
"That's enough."
He more or less understood why Naa Ichihara had said he needed Sixth-Class, or even Fifth-Class Reii to use these two Kidō Orbs. Shinigami generally trained their mental power alongside their Kidō, and individuals who stood out in that regard were rare.
The greatest burden of using a Kidō Orb fell on one's mental power.
And Haruto...
The advantage of having two souls wasn't limited to doubled Reiatsu; his mental power had doubled as well.
The drain and pressure the Kidō Orb placed on his mind were almost negligible to Haruto—
And the facts were just as Haruto thought: ten minutes was the limit of the Reiatsu the Kidō Orb could store, not the limit of Haruto's mental power.
A Shinigami who could just barely use a Kidō Orb would be able to last inside for five minutes at most, while a weaker one would manage only three. In that time, they wouldn't even be able to grasp insights through the "ethereal" state, and the Kidō's slowed-down playback would be diminished as well. There was no way they could observe it as confidently as Haruto had.
Of course.
There was a downside to doing this:
The cooldown before Haruto could use the Kidō Orb containing Dankū again would be far longer than the half year originally estimated.
But that didn't matter!
Those ten minutes had already been enough for Haruto.
His title of Kidō genius wasn't self-proclaimed. It had been personally bestowed upon him by Byakuya, a fellow genius, with the Kuchiki Clan's seal of approval!
Dankū.
A defensive Bakudō that resisted attacks by creating a translucent Reishi barrier. When opposing Reiatsu were comparable, it could completely block Hadō below number ninety.
"Child of heaven, walls built of iron"
The low chant echoed through the training ground.
"Dragon's stride, lion's roar, tiger's howl, wolf's run"
Haruto held his arm straight out, and Reiatsu surged from his palm like a great wave.
"Sever heaven and earth before they collapse"
"Bakudo #81"
A massive, door-shaped Reishi barrier rapidly took form in front of Haruto—
"Dankū!"
"Hummm!!"
The wall stretched from the floor to the ceiling of the training ground, splitting the enormous room cleanly in two!
Just then.
"Dan... Dankū?"
At the entrance to the training ground.
Byakuya, who had appeared at some unknown point and witnessed the final moment of Dankū with his own eyes, had his mouth open wide enough to fit three eggs.
Volume one: Thoughts on going premium
It's been two months.
For my new book, I decisively chose Bleach!
Something this old definitely isn't going to make a fortune, and there aren't any hot trends to ride, so all I need to do is keep writing at my own pace.
I can't claim I don't have a history, and I do feel pretty bad for the readers of Magic City, which I had to cut short at 300,000 Chinese characters (sad). But as long as a book wasn't getting so little attention that I was practically writing it for myself, I've kept going in most cases. I have a completed six-million-character book to show for it, so please rest assured, dear readers.
Oh, right.
Please don't complain that the protagonist still hasn't achieved Shikai.
The outline for this book starts at two million Chinese characters, and Shikai comes at the end of the first volume. We're not even halfway through this volume yet. Back when I was in school reading Bleach stories, there were always readers who wanted a Kidō-type protagonist, but there was very little fanfiction about one, so I decided to pick up my pen and try to meet that demand.
There's also the matter of the timeline. If you see a character showing up at a time that doesn't seem quite right, please put all the blame on the Soul King.
In short, I, the author, am playing a very big game of chess.
Finally, something practical:
Bonus chapter goals!
For ten days, from April 26 to May 5.
50 monthly votes, 1,000 recommendation votes, 5,000 in tips, 50 blades, 500 interstitial comments, or 50 book reviews.
Each of the above earns an extra chapter...
The usual big chapters of 4,000 Chinese characters, of course~
Longtime readers should be very familiar with this style of bonus updates (laughs).
Also, today's updates will come after ten o'clock. Whether or not any of the goals are met, I'll release five chapters first, and another five next Monday.
With an author this sincere, surely it's not too much to ask you to subscribe when the book first goes premium? It's really, really important to me!
Finally, thank you all for your continued love and support~
That's all!