Zanpaku, Hakuda, Kido, and Shunpo

Life at Shin'o Spiritual Arts Academy was actually much like university life in his previous world. The schedule was fixed: theory classes were held on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, mainly teaching some general history of Soul Society, how to perform Soul Burial, and how to use common support tools such as the Soul Understanding Gauntlet and Artificial Soul Pills. They also covered basic knowledge about places like Hell, Hueco Mundo, and the Dangai.

Asano Kiyoshi approached this theoretical knowledge with utmost seriousness, absorbing and studying it diligently. In the world of Shinigami, technology could often turn the tide in the most unexpected ways. Kisuke Urahara's "Shadow Invasion Pill," for instance, could be called a miraculous artifact that reversed the situation during the Thousand-Year Blood War.

Moreover, Shin'o Spiritual Arts Academy's graduation examinations included written tests. Anyone completely ignorant of theoretical knowledge would not be allowed to graduate. Of course, for some exceptionally powerful people, it did not really matter. After all, some people truly only knew how to fight and kill. @Current Captain of the Eleventh Division.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they underwent practical training in "Zanpaku, Hakuda, Kido, and Shunpo."

Zanpaku referred to Zanjutsu, teaching students specialized combat methods for facing large Hollows. After all, once these students became Shinigami, the enemies they would mainly face were massive creatures like Hollows.

Although the main focus was close-range sword combat against Hollows, Zanjutsu classes still taught methods for fighting people. However, from Asano Kiyoshi's own observations, perhaps because they were so young, there were very few lessons on fighting other people.

Hakuda was the "Hakuda" course, simply put, a hand-to-hand combat course. It mainly taught how to strengthen one's close-quarters combat abilities, with a focus on fighting people. After all, Hollows had their size and racial advantages. If one discarded their Zanpakuto and engaged a Hollow in close-quarters brawling, they would probably give the Research and Development Department a difficult problem to solve, such as "How to Assemble a Corpse from Fragments."

"Kido" was Kido, a Reishi manipulation method unique to Shinigami. This course occupied the most class time and also carried the greatest weight in examinations.

According to Teacher Ukitake, who taught Kido:

"Kido is a Shinigami's second life. After losing their Zanpakuto, most of a Shinigami's remaining strength lies in Kido. And when two people are at the same level, how well they use Kido can determine which way the scales of victory tip."

Kido was also the most difficult subject to learn. It included not only the three major types—Bakudo, Kaido, and Hado—but also lengthy, complicated incantations and various advanced applications, such as Double Chanting, Anti-Kido Kill, Post-Chanting, and other high-level techniques.

However, while learning Kido, Asano Kiyoshi was surprised to discover that the Scroll could actively analyze and assist him in using Kido. How should he put it?

To give a simple example, if using Kido required solving a math problem, then the Scroll was like a supercomputer. Asano Kiyoshi only needed to complete the most basic process of setting up the inequality, while the remaining calculations would be handled by the Scroll. This solved two problems that could arise when casting Kido.

First: Shinigami could lose focus on their control of Reishi during battle, causing their Kido to weaken or even fail to activate.

Second: Nearly all Shinigami were unable to control Reishi with perfect precision, inevitably wasting some Spiritual Pressure. With the Scroll's assistance, Asano Kiyoshi could even use less Spiritual Pressure than the standard amount to cast Kido with the same destructive power!

After discovering this function, Asano Kiyoshi grinned from ear to ear.

The final course was "Shunpo," which was essentially Shunpo, an advanced footwork technique unique to Shinigami. Beyond basic Shunpo, there were advanced techniques such as Utsusemi and Flash Cry, but those were not yet things first-year rookies like Asano Kiyoshi could access.

The basic principle of Shunpo was relatively simple. Put simply, it involved concentrating most of one's Reishi in the feet and briefly reinforcing the Soul Body structure of the legs to gain explosive speed. It was an extreme application of the body, but because it placed a great burden on the legs, its use was limited. It could not be used repeatedly in a short period, or it might cause the legs to collapse.

Furthermore, because Shunpo was a physical enhancement ability, it could not ignore obstacles and required a foothold. That foothold could be a solid building, or a temporary platform constructed from one's own Reishi.

During the lessons, Captain Ukitake also introduced everyone to the Hollows' advanced footwork technique—Sonído.

According to Captain Ukitake, Sonído was an advanced movement technique developed by Hollows through their unique innate talent—Hierro. It was a form of spatial traversal. Though its speed was comparable to a Shinigami's Shunpo, a Hollow's Sonído was more flexible.

To give a simple example, if a Shinigami and a Hollow were both locked inside a completely sealed wooden box, the Hollow could directly leave the box through Sonído. But a Shinigami's Shunpo was physical enhancement; at most, they could throw their entire body against the wall, without any ability to leave the large wooden box.

After hearing this, some students asked Ukitake whether Sonído was therefore superior to Shunpo.

Ukitake smiled faintly and explained:

"Simply put, Sonído relies on a Hollow's Hierro to forcibly withstand the pressure their body endures while traversing space. In other words, it is harder to learn, places a greater burden on the body, and is more difficult to popularize. Therefore, considering all aspects, each has its own strengths and weaknesses. There is no such thing as one being the superior version of the other. It mainly depends on the user's ability."

As for Shunpo, Asano Kiyoshi's Scroll also possessed a bug-like ability. As mentioned before, the Scroll had capabilities similar to a supercomputer and could perfectly utilize every particle of Reishi. Therefore, his Shunpo could greatly reduce the burden on his body, and he could use Shunpo more smoothly and continuously than other Shinigami. It was practically like carrying a cheat with him.

However, Asano Kiyoshi had not yet discovered any assisting functions of the Scroll when it came to Zanjutsu and Hakuda. Still, he was not discouraged. The Scroll had only just unlocked the Gate of the Underworld scene. Perhaps later scenes would contain functions capable of training Zanjutsu and Hakuda?

Asano Kiyoshi had a good mindset. He had not become arrogant because of his growing abilities. Instead, he was like a circle: as its circumference grew, it came into contact with more unknowns, and the reverence it held grew greater as well.

Everything was moving in a good direction.