Jam Jam Master

"Ahhh!!! You despicable, lecherous, shameless, disgusting pervert Master, accept divine punishment!"

The next instant, a sharp yet bashful voice echoed across the grassland, followed by a continuous series of explosions.

"Boom, boom, boom!!!"

In that moment, countless blades of grass transformed into towering trees that shot into the sky, wildly twisting toward the tiny Chiba Makoto to strangle him.

Within this spiritual space, the only things Chiba Makoto could control were the small patch of saplings originally planted in the grass and that single towering tree.

Yet, although the saplings and towering tree could freely extend and be controlled under the infusion of Chiba Makoto's Reiryoku, the scale of the two sides... was not even remotely comparable!

In almost an instant, the saplings Chiba Makoto controlled in instinctive resistance were shredded apart, leaving only the towering tree barely able to offer him assistance.

"Gulp~"

Though Chiba Makoto had experienced scenes like this hundreds of times over the past year, every time he saw that endless sea of trees descending like giant dragons, blotting out the sky as they strangled their target, he could not help but feel shaken.

Before such exaggerated power, Hakuda, Zanjutsu, and even the Kidō taught at Shin'ō Academy were utterly meaningless.

Only Shunpo... only fleeing!

Under these circumstances, Shunpo was the only thing that could be of any use, allowing Chiba Makoto to barely prolong his survival beneath such absurdly widespread attacks.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Towering trees crashed into the earth beside Chiba Makoto like dragons biting down. The dirt blasted outward in their wake was as deadly as bullets, leaving several scratches on his delicate face.

Yet Chiba Makoto did not have the slightest chance to catch his breath!

All Things in Nature's fury had come without warning, and unusually, she had gone all out from the very beginning. Towering trees more than ten meters in diameter descended one after another without the slightest gap.

Chiba Makoto's pupils contracted. He controlled the sole remaining towering tree to force open a gap and escape, then shouted loudly.

"Hey, hey, hey, All Things in Nature, don't attack yet. I have something to say..."

"Hehehehe, there's nothing left to hear..."

Yet what answered Chiba Makoto sounded as though the voice had been utterly ruined. "A despicable, lecherous, shameless, disgusting pervert Master like you should just be destroyed!"

As All Things in Nature's voice fell, countless towering trees crashed inward from every direction, crushing toward Chiba Makoto at their center and leaving him no room to escape.

"Crack..."

First, the towering tree that had barely held on shattered in an instant. Then Chiba Makoto, with nowhere left to dodge, was directly turned into a lump of... jam jam.

The next moment, the jam jam Chiba Makoto had become vanished as if it had been absorbed. Instead, an entirely uninjured Chiba Makoto slowly formed upon the trunk of that towering tree.

"Jam Jam Master, this time I'd only just started putting in some force, and you were already done for. You lasted less than five breaths..."

Yet as All Things in Nature's voice rang out, carrying both innocence and mockery, Chiba Makoto's face turned green. His mouth twitched as he snapped angrily.

"All Things in Nature, if I don't teach you a lesson today, you'll really think I'm made of mud!"

As Chiba Makoto's words fell, a towering dark-green spiritual pressure suddenly erupted from his body. The surrounding saplings shot outward and wrapped themselves around the sole towering tree.

With the many saplings attached to it, the towering tree looked several times larger from afar, soaring upward as though it were about to pierce the heavens.

"Hohoho, despicable, lecherous, shameless, disgusting pervert Master, now that's at least a somewhat decent struggle! Come on, let me see whether Master's skills can make me submit..."

What answered Chiba Makoto was an endless sea of dragon-like towering trees forming a colossal palm that covered the sky, before fiercely closing around the towering tree!

The difference in size between them was practically that of a palm and a toothpick...

The following day.

As the morning sun slowly rose, a ray of sunlight fell over Chiba Makoto's eyelids. His long lashes trembled, and when his eyes opened, the exhaustion within them was impossible to conceal.

Like the sage time after finishing, Chiba Makoto, who had been brutally killed more than ten times by All Things in Nature in the spiritual space last night, now deeply felt the beauty of life and his disgust for battle.

Besides that, Chiba Makoto felt that his Shunpo seemed to have improved again...

For a Soul Reaper, awakening a Zanpakuto's Shikai only required hearing the voice of the Zanpakuto's sword spirit and learning the Zanpakuto's name.

As for the Zanpakuto's Bankai, a further step beyond Shikai, one needed to subdue the Zanpakuto's sword spirit in order to comprehend and control the Zanpakuto's true power.

But... the power All Things in Nature displayed in battle seemed a little too terrifying!

Thus far, Chiba Makoto had fought All Things in Nature more than a thousand times. Forget seeing any hope of victory—how many breaths he could endure often depended on All Things in Nature's mood.

Although Chiba Makoto understood that this was also a process through which a Soul Reaper became familiar with their Zanpakuto's power.

Still, as he felt the warm sunlight fall across his body, Chiba Makoto could not help letting out a long breath. Light flickered in his eyes as he silently thought.

Living... is wonderful!

After endlessly wandering the perilous line between life and death, returning to reality in a daze, Chiba Makoto sincerely savored the tranquility and peace of this moment, losing himself in it for a time.

"Didn't sleep last night? Were you training?"

After an unknown amount of time, a gentle voice suddenly sounded from behind him, snapping Chiba Makoto awake.

Chiba Makoto hurriedly turned around and found Unohana Retsu standing behind him with a gentle smile on her face.

"Teacher..."

Chiba Makoto hastily stood up. Like an immature, gentle youth, he spoke with some embarrassment and shyness.

"I was too excited to sleep last night, so I thought I'd train hard. I can't let down Teacher's expectations."

"You really are hardworking, Makoto." Unohana Retsu seemed to nod in satisfaction.

"It can't be helped. I know my talent isn't much, so I can only develop All Things in Nature's abilities to better understand how precious life is and strengthen my healing abilities."

By the end, even with Chiba Makoto's temperament, he could not help gritting his teeth.

That damned All Things in Nature called him Master so sweetly, yet never forgot to turn him into jam jam every single time.

"Don't belittle yourself, Makoto. Healing-type abilities are very precious." Unohana Retsu encouraged him gently.