Just Charge Ahead

Lu Li had no intention of arguing with the little girl. Standing at the starting line, he kicked off his wooden sandals, took a deep breath.

The students nearby could clearly see Lu Li's chest swell high. It was nothing like a normal deep breath; it felt more like gasoline flowing into an internal combustion engine!

Then, as Lu Li lowered his body, the loose Daoist robe visibly bulged.

The students stared at Lu Li in shock. They could hardly imagine how savage and violent the body beneath that robe must be. Lu Li did not look like he was about to perform an "elegant Shunpo"—he looked more like a beast poised to pounce!

The next instant, accompanied by a dull boom and a spray of dust, Lu Li vanished.

In Aizen's eyes, Lu Li was like a savage beast lunging at its prey. This was nothing like the Shunpo he knew. Whether it was the way he exerted force or how he borrowed force from his footholds, it differed from Shunpo. Most importantly, Lu Li was making far too much noise!

The sound of feet scraping against the ground rang out. Amid the swirling dust, Lu Li stopped at the next marker, more than halfway down the course.

Under Yoruichi's, the students', and even the teacher's stunned gazes, he grinned and looked at the large screen.

'2.939S'

He rolled his neck before turning to Yoruichi. "Looks like I won, right?"

Yoruichi's mouth fell slightly open. "...You... this is, this isn't Shunpo at all!"

"You only said you'd run the full course while I ran half, and whoever took less time would win. You never said we had to use Shunpo, did you?"

Lu Li grinned. "Besides, who says that wasn't Shunpo? That was Shunpo."

Everyone present, teachers and students alike, was speechless. What kind of Shunpo made that much noise?

No matter how they looked at it, he had just charged straight through, hadn't he!?

But after their shock subsided, a small number of people began frowning in thought. They realized that while Lu Li's movement had caused a huge commotion, it really was a footwork technique based on Shunpo theory.

It was just that Lu Li had discarded "silence" and "elegance."

After class, Yoruichi stood before Lu Li with mixed feelings. "A bet is a bet. Tell me, what do you want to learn?"

She should have been angry at losing, especially since what Lu Li had used was not Shunpo in the traditional sense. But she had an excellent eye, and her talent in the field of Shunpo was nearly unmatched. After thinking it over, she realized that Lu Li's "Shunpo" had merits of its own.

Lu Li had never learned Shunpo before, which left only one absurd conclusion: after encountering Shunpo for the first time and trying it just over twenty times, Lu Li had created a new form of footwork.

This was fucking... ridiculous!

Of course, Yoruichi knew that Shunpo was not the only high-speed movement technique. More accurately, the True Spirit Arts Academy only taught students the "common stuff." The Shunpo taught here was as basic as basic could get. Put nicely, it was "classic Shunpo." Put bluntly, it was "outdated Shunpo."

The Shihōin Clan excelled at Shunpo and Hakuda, so they possessed many secret Hakuda and Shunpo techniques. The advanced Shunpo techniques were far beyond anything taught at the True Spirit Arts Academy.

Those so-called advanced Shunpo techniques had also been created by the Shihōin Clan's genius predecessors, condensing the wisdom of generation after generation.

Yet today, she had witnessed another new form of "advanced Shunpo," created in mere dozens of minutes by a Rukongai District drifter.

Yes, she considered Lu Li's footwork more advanced than ordinary Shunpo—at the very least, it suited Lu Li better.

She had dared to compete against Lu Li and given herself twice the distance because she had mastered advanced Shunpo techniques. She believed Lu Li, who had only just encountered ordinary Shunpo, could never defeat her.

Forget Lu Li—even if the teacher for this class, the Third Seat of the Stealth Force, competed with her in Shunpo at the same Reiatsu level and over the same distance, she would certainly win.

But she never could have imagined that Lu Li, this freak, would create a set of Shunpo suited to himself in such a short time. It made a tremendous amount of noise, but in terms of speed alone, it was incredibly fast.

And she understood that Lu Li had only encountered Shunpo today, and this new Shunpo had only just been created. His speed would only grow faster with practice. It was not impossible for him to catch up to her at her peak.

Lu Li watched Yoruichi's changing expression, unable to guess what she was imagining, so he directly made his request. "I've heard of an advanced Shunpo technique called Utsusemi. I wonder if you know it."

"Utsusemi?"

Yoruichi frowned. "Where did you hear that name?"

Lu Li shrugged. "I heard someone mention it in the cafeteria while eating. I can't remember who said it. What, you don't know it?"

He truly was not sure whether Yoruichi knew Utsusemi. After all, the original work had never mentioned whether it was a technique mastered by the Shihōin Clan or one Yoruichi created later.

If Yoruichi had created it herself, she might not know it yet.

"This is a Shunpo technique of the Shihōin Clan. Very few people even know that name..."

Yoruichi seemed conflicted. After pondering for a moment, she said, "I'll teach you during the next Shunpo class."

She hesitated because Utsusemi was considered a high-level Shunpo technique even within the Shihōin Clan. It was not strictly forbidden to pass it on, but it was certainly not something she could casually teach an outsider. If Lu Li had been from one of the Five Great Noble Clans, it would have been easier, but he was merely a lowly drifter.

She might be the Shihōin Clan's heir, but she could not make the decision alone in a matter like this. Yet she could not bring herself to welch on a bet, so she could only go home and "wage war" with those old men.

After settling the reward for the match, Lu Li was in a good mood. He went to the cafeteria with Aizen and began stuffing his face.

"Lu-kun, did you come up with that Shunpo on the spot?"

Aizen asked Lu Li curiously across the dining table. Lu Li had once again overturned everything he thought he knew today.

He knew Lu Li was a genius, but he had never expected him to create his own "exclusive Shunpo" the very first time he encountered Shunpo.

"I just made a small adjustment based on my own situation. What, does Sōsuke want to learn it?"

After swallowing a mouthful of rice, Lu Li smiled. "I can teach you."

Aizen's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly. "I think I'll stick to practicing ordinary Shunpo."

He would respectfully decline that thunderous style of movement. It did not suit his low-profile way of doing things.

As Lu Li ate, he pondered his own situation. He knew perfectly well that the Shunpo he had created was not really some advanced Shunpo.

He had merely abandoned the traditional Shunpo techniques meant to keep it discreet and silent, focusing entirely on increasing speed. After all, as far as he was concerned, he would not be pulling off sneak attacks or assassinations when fighting enemies.

Battle meant killing the enemy head-on.

Silence? Background noise? Was there any need for that?

"Oh, right. I won't be with you for the first class this afternoon, Lu-kun."

After they finished eating, Aizen said this.

Since it still hadn't been recommended yet, I had to keep the word count down. I could only reliably do two updates a day for the next few days.

But Xiang still had to beg you bros for some follow-up reads and comments. The data during the new-book period was far too important. Xiang didn't want to die early on.〒▽〒

Once it gets recommended, Xiang will increase the updates as appropriate. Please, everyone.