Training Bankai

Meanwhile, within the Seireitei.

At the Gotei 1st Division Barracks.

A middle-aged man with a highly conspicuous cross-shaped scar on his forehead and a severely receding hairline stood silently at a height overlooking the streets of the entire Seireitei, listening to the report from the person behind him.

This middle-aged man was Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, the organization of Soul Reapers that stood at the pinnacle of those defending the Seireitei!

Yet after hearing the report from the person behind him, this man—known for overwhelming enemies through "boundless majesty," "absolute strength," and "violence"—showed obvious surprise.

"What?!"

"You said that brat Araki told that idiot Saito he planned to head to the Seireitei within the next few days?!"

"Is your information accurate?!"

Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni asked the person behind him in a deep voice.

"Absolutely true! Captain Saito said it herself while drunk!"

Upon hearing this, the person behind Yamamoto immediately lowered his head and answered respectfully.

"Very well, I understand! You may leave!"

Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's lips curled up slightly, making his delight obvious. At the same time, he waved a hand behind him, signaling that the man could leave.

"Yes, sir."

Having received Yamamoto's permission to leave, the 1st Division member slowly let out a breath. Honestly, being around Yamamoto was simply too stressful for an ordinary division member like him! Even though, in his heart, he had always worshipped Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni as the guardian deity of the Seireitei in Soul Society...

"Lord Genryūsai, this is wonderful. Brother Araki has finally decided to come to the Seireitei and help you! When that happens, your burden will be much lighter."

Not long after the 1st Division member departed, a gray-haired, gray-eyed young man emerged from the shadows of the 1st Division Barracks with a smile and spoke to Captain-Commander Yamamoto.

"Chōjirō, listen to the nonsense you're spouting. Since when did this old man need help from that 'foolish' disciple Araki, whose brain is full of water?"

Captain-Commander Yamamoto snapped at the young man named Chōjirō Sasakibe.

"Yes, yes, yes. Lord Genryūsai is the strongest Soul Reaper in Soul Society and naturally has no need for Brother Araki's help..."

"Still, Brother Araki does not seem to have done particularly well during the century or so since he left the Genji School!"

"From what I know, in recent years, Brother Araki has fallen so low that he has had to go to a place like Rukongai, using his craft—scamming fools—to earn meal money from wandering souls and live tenaciously—extravagantly!"

"Lord Genryūsai, even for the sake of the fact that Brother Araki was once your disciple, you should lend him a hand! Arrange a suitable post for that disappointing disciple of yours in the Gotei 13~"

Chōjirō Sasakibe seemed to understand Yamamoto Genryūsai's temperament very well. He immediately followed Yamamoto's lead and soothed him.

"Hmph! There is no need for you to say any more about this matter, Chōjirō!"

"Since that 'foolish disciple' Araki once entered under this old man's tutelage, this old man naturally cannot allow him to disgrace my school in Rukongai District!"

"Since my foolish disciple was exiled by this old man to Rukongai District for a hundred years of reflection, he must surely know his mistake by now! Since he has come to his senses and knows to come to the Seireitei to find this old man, then this old man will naturally give him an opportunity."

Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni first snorted coldly, then launched into a grand speech.

"Ah, right, right, right..."

"It was because you wanted to punish Brother Araki that you had him sell ramen in Rukongai District for a hundred years."

After hearing Lord Yamamoto Genryūsai's words, Chōjirō Sasakibe nodded repeatedly.

If Chōjirō had not known the inside story from back then—known that Araki had run off to travel in Rukongai District after arguing with Yamamoto Genryūsai, simply to spite him...

And had ultimately remained in Junrinan, only a step away from the Seireitei, selling ramen right in front of Yamamoto Genryūsai to deliberately oppose him... he might almost have believed Yamamoto Genryūsai's words.

Of course, Sasakibe would never expose the matter in front of Yamamoto. Otherwise, he would not have served at Yamamoto's side for so long. A man of high emotional intelligence, he merely gave Yamamoto a thumbs-up and replied, "Ah, right, right, right! Everything you say is right!"

However, there was one thing Sasakibe understood more clearly than anyone: Araki held an absolutely unique position in Yamamoto Genryūsai's heart! After all, in a thousand years, Araki was the only man to receive "Genryū: Menkyo Kaiden" from Yamamoto Genryūsai. He was Yamamoto's unparalleled foremost disciple.

Even when Araki had truly angered Yamamoto Genryūsai beyond endurance back then, even forcing Yamamoto to the point where he nearly drew his blade against him, hadn't Yamamoto Genryūsai ultimately been helpless against Araki and allowed him to travel? After all, this was the "fine disciple" Yamamoto Genryūsai had personally trained. No matter how furious he was, he could only swallow it.

After Yamamoto Genryūsai successfully took control of the Seireitei and eliminated those competitors, he had even feared that Araki might be living poorly in Rukongai District. For that reason, Yamamoto Genryūsai had specifically found Araki a walking cash dispenser who could guarantee his quality of life, was not particularly bright, and could be easily manipulated by Araki...

—Yes, that walking cash dispenser was none other than Saito Furofushi.

In order to ensure Saito sent Araki money every month, Yamamoto deliberately gave Saito twice the monthly salary of the other division captains~

All that could be said was that parents worried for their children everywhere!

Even now, Saito believed that she received an extra salary every month compared to the other captains because she was smarter and performed better than the other division leaders~

Little did she know that Yamamoto feared this "genius" would be scammed by Araki until even her underwear was gone, leaving her to starve instead.

Meanwhile, the Sixth Division.

"Hehehe..."

"I have good news for you! Araki, burp~ Araki has already agreed to come to the Seireitei!"

"When the time comes, the position of Sixth Division lieutenant will be his~"

"Then our Sixth Division will become the strongest division in the Gotei 13 apart from the 1st Division under that old man Yamamoto! Celebrate for me! Gulp gulp gulp..."

Captain Saito Furofushi of the Sixth Division was incomparably excited. She clutched a wine jar and drank deeply, while Sixth Division members lay scattered all around her. Clearly, everyone had gotten drunk.

Yet the excited Saito Furofushi failed to notice that atop a beam in the Sixth Division Barracks, a 1st Division member dressed in black Shinigami Robes was frantically taking notes, recording the intelligence spilling from Saito's drunken ramblings.

The 11th Division.

At the Swordsmanship Dojo.

A beautiful woman with an "alluring" figure, a "pretty" face, and a cascade of long black hair flowing behind her stood steadily in the dojo with a wooden sword in hand. Around her stood numerous powerful Soul Reaper division members.

"Come at me together~"

After the woman and the division members faced off for several seconds, she softly spoke four words.

"Kill her!!"

The next instant, the division members surrounding the woman shouted and rushed at her, slashing their blades toward her.

"Hehe~"

Faced with such a terrifying scene, the woman merely smiled lightly. Then the wooden sword in her hand flashed like lightning as she swung it at the division members!

Smack smack smack smack...

In an instant, amid the soft sounds of wooden sword striking flesh, the division members surrounding the woman were sent flying! The beautiful woman standing at the center looked entirely relaxed, her long black hair gently fluttering in the airflow created by her blade, while every one of her opponents lay unable to rise...

"Too weak! These people cannot stir even the slightest interest in me."

"Could it be that this world no longer contains an opponent who can satisfy me?!"

As the woman looked at the division members she had methodically cut down, there was no joy in her eyes.

Her originally cold and sharp gaze flickered with faint melancholy. She raised her head and looked through the dojo window at the scenery outside, silently pondering and hoping. She hoped that somewhere within the vast Soul Society, someone capable of matching or even defeating her would appear.

"Captain is truly too powerful!"

"Isn't that obvious? Captain is the woman known as 'Kenpachi,' the strongest Soul Reaper in all of Soul Society aside from Captain-Commander Yamamoto."

"I dare say that no being capable of defeating Captain exists in this world."

Just as the woman gazed sorrowfully out the window, feeling incomparably lonely because she could not find an opponent, the Gotei 13, 11th Division members lying on the ground climbed to their feet one after another and muttered softly.

To these division members, the woman before them was the strongest existence in this world, the object of their worship, and the one who could lead them all forward...

For the woman before them was none other than the legendary first captain of the Gotei 13, 11th Division, Unohana Yachiru! She was also the first person to receive the title of Kenpachi, a woman who had subdued every swordsmanship school in Soul Society with nothing more than the sword in her hand.

"So lonely! I want so badly to meet an opponent who can satisfy me!"

Upon hearing her division members' words, Unohana Yachiru's gaze grew even lonelier.

Elsewhere...

Rukongai District, East 37th District, Ryugan.

Within a desolate forest, Araki sat cross-legged on the ground, holding his Zanpakuto in his arms.

This was the place Araki had carefully selected to learn Bankai! It was also where Yamamoto Shigekuni had witnessed Chōjirō Sasakibe's Bankai. Naturally, it was also the origin of Yamamoto's transformation from Jūjizai into Genryūsai, after which he named himself Genryūsai.

"Then, Ruriko! I'm coming."

Araki closed his eyes tightly. As he murmured inwardly, his consciousness seemed to instantly sink into the depths of the sea. This was where his heart resided, a space forged from Araki's own soul and also the place where his Zanpakuto "lived."

"Yo~ You've come again, my 'King'!"

"Could it be that you came for Bankai this time?"

"Your Spiritual Pressure is barely sufficient, but Bankai is not so easy to learn, you know~"

Within Araki's inner world, an existence dressed in a green robe—whose appearance made it impossible to tell whether they were a little girl or little boy, with a completely indeterminate gender—greeted Araki softly in a voice that sounded both young male and young female.

K-ROOM: Piercing Wave!

In response, Araki smiled faintly, raised his Zanpakuto, directly imbued it with his fruit ability, and launched his strongest awakened fruit ability at the youth.

Boom!

Faced with Araki's attack, which resembled Kamishini no Yari, the youth had no time to react.

In an instant, a four-thousand-meter blade brutally pierced through the youth's chest.

"I have never seen such an unscrupulous 'King'!"

Looking at the attack piercing his chest, disbelief flashed through the youth's eyes. He raised his head, glared at Araki, and shouted in an incomparably hoarse voice.

"Then you've seen one today!"

"Cut the crap and tell me your true name—your Bankai!"

Araki looked at the Zanpakuto spirit he had ambushed and smiled coldly.

When other people trained Bankai, they treated their Zanpakuto like an honored ancestor and begged on their knees for it to reveal its name!

When Araki trained Bankai, he opened with his ultimate move. If it refused to submit, he fought! As long as he beat his Zanpakuto into submission, he would naturally learn the name of its Bankai.

Even if it was his own Zanpakuto, Araki would not indulge it! As for whether his Zanpakuto would make things difficult for him, Araki did not care in the slightest! Before absolute strength, everything else was nothing but passing clouds.

Two updates~ From now on, two updates every day~