"An ordinary Soul Reaper?"
"That's right, an ordinary Soul Reaper."
Ailin walked toward Byakuya Kuchiki step by step, his Zanpakuto dragging along the ground with a scraping "shhk, shhk, shhk."
"After more than two months of battle, you've basically absorbed the foundation you built up over the previous decade or so."
"Even if I keep raising my strength to pressure you from now on, the improvement you gain will be very limited."
"Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Shunpo, Kido, and Zanpakuto—those are the components of a Soul Reaper's strength."
"In the first phase, you completed your training in the four Soul Reaper arts very well. That laid a solid foundation for you to attain greater strength in the future."
"Foundation?"
Byakuya Kuchiki pursed his lips.
His struggles between life and death over the past two months had merely been building a foundation?
This was the first time Byakuya Kuchiki truly understood the difference in perspective between himself and Uncle-in-law Ailin.
However, Byakuya's expression made Ailin mistakenly think that Byakuya felt he had not taught him anything more powerful.
So Ailin tapped his own head and explained to Byakuya.
"Byakuya, under normal circumstances, once ordinary Soul Reapers train any one of these arts to a certain level, we recognize them as having Captain-level strength."
"For example: Zanjutsu capable of casually cleaving mountains, Hakuda capable of blasting apart tall buildings, Shunpo capable of evading every attack, Kido above number eighty cast through Kishōtenketsu while retaining over half its power, or training one's Zanpakuto to the point of achieving Bankai..."
"As long as someone accomplishes any one of these, we can consider them to possess Captain-level strength."
"Among them, whether it is Zanjutsu, Shunpo, Hakuda, or Kido, cultivating any of them to the Captain-level is extremely difficult."
"It is a realm that requires talent, comprehension, and