Chapter 53

Under his wife's slightly reproachful glare, Kuchiki Sōjun interrupted the usual scene in the house.

"Being able to use this level of Hadō means that Haruto's strength has transcended the realm of ordinary geniuses, enough to be recorded in Father's 'observation roster'."

"It's so splendid," said Kuchiki Sōjun in a gentle, flowing voice.

"But in contrast."

"Even if he is Byakuya's friend, until we can ascertain his true allegiance, or rather, until he can produce a sufficient testament that the clan can use against him, we cannot mobilize the clan's resources to nurture him..."

Even though I personally think highly of Haruto...

Kuchiki Sōjun rarely used such absolute statements, but the fact that he said it proved that Byakuya definitely couldn't get what he wanted from his father... and there was even less hope of getting it from his grandfather.

"And."

Kuchiki Sōjun looked at Byakuya with a hint of doting affection.

"The Ise Clan's scale is enormous. Although that old man has long since left the power center of the Shinto lineage, his combat strength has not declined with age. He still secretly wields considerable influence... This is probably one of the advantages of a powerful member of the Kidō-type."

"If the Kuchiki Clan wants to show sincerity commensurate with their status, they'd probably need Kidō of the 90th rank or higher."

Sōjun gave a wry smile.

"Even Father cannot make decisions on this level of the Kidō alone; there will inevitably be several arguments at family meetings."

"As the one who proposed the suggestion..."

"Byakuya, would you like to sit in on the class?"

Sōjun looked at her son.

"Then... maybe we should forget about it."

Upon hearing that he had to attend a clan meeting, Byakuya immediately had second thoughts—not to mention Byakuya, even Kuchiki Sōjun would feel a headache when facing those immortal clan elders.

Just then--

"According to my elder brother, it just needs to be something that isn't a family secret, right?"

Kōga Kuchiki, who had been sitting there quietly listening, spoke for the first time since Byakuya entered the room.

"Kōga?"

While all eyes were on Kōga, the latter looked at Byakuya with considerable pleasure.

"Byakuya."

"Why?"

"From what you just said, this student named Haruto must have a talent for the Kidō arts) just like me, right?"

Hearing Kōga's explanation, Kuchiki Hine poked her husband, a little annoyed.

"How could anyone have more talent than Kōga?"

Kōga Kuchiki held his wife's hand and said:

"Hine."

"There are many geniuses in Soul Society. I was just lucky enough to be discovered by the Kuchiki Clan, which gave me the opportunity to fully unleash my talents."

"And this Haruto..."

"He's a student at the Shin'ō Academy and has a talent for Kidō —just from your description, I feel he's just like my younger self."

Kōga Kuchiki's Zanpakuto is indeed abnormal.

However, the reason the Kuchiki Clan initially chose him was actually because of the amazing Kidō talent he displayed while studying at the Shin'ō Academy.

Furthermore, both of them came from Rukongai.

The Kōga was able to marry Kuchiki Hine shows that he is actually not very old. Although he calls Kuchiki Sōjun brother, Kōga be Byakuya's older brother... He is actually still young at heart.

Moreover, Kōga really liked his nephew. Although the Kuchiki Clan had many rules, at least the Sōjun family treated him like family.

"How about I present my self-created Kidō as a gift to Haruto?"

"Your self-created Kidō... could it be..."

"Yes, Hyōga Seiran."

Kōga Kuchiki nodded.

"Isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

"Nothing."

Kōga Kuchiki shook his head indifferently.

"Although my father's assessment of Hyōga Seiran was that he was Hadō worthy of being included in the 80th or higher rank, he was ultimately not selected."

As a genius in the art of Kidō, he naturally hoped that his creation of Kidō would be included as an official Kidō designation.

Pity.

The Hyōga Seiran technique invented by Kōga Kuchiki Hibiki is extremely difficult to master—even veteran Captain-level like Ginrei Kuchiki and rising stars like Kuchiki Sōjun haven't been able to master it, indicating that it has many flaws.

"Both in terms of difficulty and power, Hyōga Seiran has a lot of room for improvement."

But now...

Kōga Kuchiki Zanpakuto placed beside him.

"Training with Zanpakuto already consumes a great deal of energy, not to mention constantly improving oneself through actual combat with Hollows."

"Improvements to the single- Kidō can only be put on hold for now."

Kōga Kuchiki is a genius among geniuses.

Although he harbored the ambition to make a name for himself through the Kidō cultivation, he devoted a great deal of time and energy solely to making his masterpiece accessible to more ordinary people...

Kōga Kuchiki Hibiki was actually reluctant.

"If Haruto can master Hyōga Seiran, it will at least prove that my direction is correct. Perhaps it can even provide experience in simplifying the difficulty of cultivation from aspects that I haven't thought of before."

Many of the code names for the Kidō were "borrowed" in this way, and the effort and energy put into them were not just the work of one or two people; of course, those who were able to leave their names in the teaching materials were mostly the original inventors.

"I also want to focus on improving the power of Hyōga Seiran"—these heartfelt words remained unspoken by Kōga.

"..."

After hearing Kōga's explanation, Kuchiki Sōjun stopped trying to dissuade him.

Let's go back to the present.

"Hyōga Seiran?"

Haruto picked up the secret manual on the table and flipped through it.

Compared to the secret manuals I'd seen before, the writing and format of this book can only be described as sloppy and disorganized—students from Rukongai can be very talented, but there are few shortcuts to quickly improve these qualities cultivated from a young age...

Haruto is the same.

"He doesn't look like someone who's very studious."

"That's for sure."

Byakuya chimed in from the side.

"The reason you learned Raikōhō so quickly is because you've accumulated a lot of experience related to lightning-based Hadō since the Byakurai arc."

"However, as the level of the Hadō designation increases, the difficulty of training also becomes increasingly exaggerated."

"You're no stranger to attribute-less Hadō, and among the Soul Reaper I've seen, 'Rush' is definitely among the best."

"But!"

"Compared to the Raikōhō, while you can use the Zanka no Tachi, your proficiency is mediocre."

"This is only the number seventy-eighth Zanka no Tachi."

At this point, Byakuya glanced furtively at Haruto —although he had mentioned the Dankū, he hadn't mentioned any information related to the Kidō Orb... Although Haruto didn't care, it was still related to him, so Byakuya secretly withheld a little information.

"Hyōga Seiran is comparable to Hadō a type of magic power) with a number above 80, and it's a rare ice-type Hadō."

"Kōga is very generous, but you want to learn, right...?"

At this point, Byakuya also let out a soft sigh.

It wouldn't matter if only he couldn't understand it, since Byakuya hasn't even started learning advanced Hadō yet, under his grandfather's supervision.

However, even his grandfather and father failed to learn it, so Byakuya actually had a rather pessimistic view of Hyōga Seiran, which seemed very good.

"You still need to learn it."

"However, I suggest you spend that time practicing Raikōhō and Zanka no Tachi instead; at least they'd be more practical."

Ice and Snow-type Kidō.

Haruto has never seen this category in the existing Kidō; the most common Hadō are mainly fire and lightning types.

In other words...

Haruto had absolutely no experience to draw upon, and let alone the Kidō Orb, even understanding this secret manual was no easy task.

But--

"I'll give it a try first."

"No matter what, it's all thanks to Kōga."

Giving up without even trying is not Haruto's style.

Volume 1: Chapter 35, The First Lesson of the School Year: First, Cut Off the Heartthrob

The pleasant lunch break has come to an end.

Although the time hadn't come yet, the series of shocking events had already made it unbearable for Ayaka, a mere Ninth Class Reii.

If they discussed it a little longer, she had reason to suspect that these people were about to start Bankai when to use Bankai.

In order to preserve her own values, Ayaka had no choice but to urge everyone to hurry to the classroom.

However...

When everyone arrived at the classroom, the classroom of Class 1, Grade 6 was already full of students, and the front seats were basically all occupied.

On the platform in front, Mutsuki Shōkaku was looking at everyone with a "kill you all" gaze.

"..."

"We shouldn't be late, right?"

Haruto glanced at the wall clock at the back of the classroom.

Even if they remembered it wrong, it's impossible that all six of them had memory problems; there were clearly still fifteen minutes left.

"Didn't you receive a message from the Hell Butterfly?"

Seeing that Haruto and the others hadn't done it on purpose, Mutsuki's expression softened somewhat.

"Hell Butterfly?"

Hell Butterflies are biological tools used by Soul Reaper) for guidance and communication; their role is basically equivalent to a mobile phone in the Soul Society.

Haruto turned around and glanced at Byakuya, who seemed indifferent.

"That one..."

Byakuya scratched his head.

"They must have been blocked by the dormitory's defensive Kidō."

"What are you looking at? It's just that I forgot to turn off the barrier. You guys came so suddenly, it's not normal for you to miss one or two times."

In front of so many people, Byakuya suppressed Haruto's glare and lowered his voice.

"... Teacher, you heard that too."

Haruto gave Mutsuki -sensei a helpless look.

"..."