In the woods beside Shino Academy,
Rukia and the other two were training as usual,
and, of course, Nara Dan was sitting cross-legged on a tree branch, his eyes half-closed as if immersed in deep meditation.
Kira Izuru, Rukia, and Renji Abarai were getting along well. They all had decent personalities and shared the same ambition to improve.
That guy.
What does he do all day...?
Rukia stopped gathering Spiritual Power and looked at Nara Dan, who seemed to be staring blankly into the distance.
He has such terrifying talent,
yet he never does any actual training...
Does he really have no sense of urgency...?
That was certainly how it looked to the other three. Apart from giving them pointers now and then, Nara Dan rarely did any visible physical training—not even when Kira Izuru was around.
He was always meditating or sitting in contemplation. To Renji Abarai, who didn't understand what he was doing, it looked like he was simply spacing out.
It was hard not to wonder: was this guy really the sort of genius whose strength improved day and night just by keeping his eyes closed?
In fact, Nara Dan's situation was the opposite of what the three imagined.
With Spiritual Power Self-Weight Armor, he was training even more rigorously, enduring the constant tearing and healing within his body, as well as the pressure of immense gravity weighing down on him.
And on top of all that, Nara Dan often forced himself into the Sword Meditation state, using it as another way to temper himself.
"The power of Hollows..."
Nara Dan sensed the three watching him but paid them no mind. He focused instead on the changes in the power within him.
Wild Spiritual Power churned inside his body, but he kept it firmly under control, not