Zanjutsu Training

Natsuki had thought that learning swordsmanship from Unohana Retsu meant sparring with her and gradually mastering the various techniques of Zanjutsu in battle.

But that wasn't the case.

Even though Unohana Retsu had once been a butcher who killed without batting an eye, that had been a long time ago.

Now she had already sheathed her edge, and seemed to be an exceptionally gentle person.

Her teaching methods had changed since those days as well. They were now exceedingly gentle.

The first thing Natsuki did while studying Zanjutsu under her was read.

Lots of books.

According to Unohana Retsu, these books contained all kinds of secret swordsmanship and blade techniques that had once circulated throughout the Soul Society. But as time passed, the vast majority had been lost to the ages.

Natsuki didn't ask why these out-of-print ancient texts had ended up in Unohana Retsu's hands.

He simply read through them in silence.

Assassination, ambushes, poison, Iaijutsu, Dual-Wielding Style, Nadeshigiri—Natsuki went through all sorts of swordsmanship and blade techniques, committing them to memory. Some techniques were difficult to connect with swordsmanship at all.

For example, throwing a handful of powdered lime straight at someone to blind them, then slashing them while they were caught off guard—did that count as swordsmanship?

Still, there were so many techniques, and plenty of them were useful.

If he could master them all, he would have many more ways to deal with his enemies.

As Unohana Retsu put it, the essence of combat was defeating one's opponent, so the methods one used didn't really matter.

What mattered was the result.

But even so, Unohana Retsu herself seemed to have changed long ago.

She enjoyed the exhilaration of battle itself, rather than its outcome.

Reading, and more reading.

Though Unohana Retsu still hadn't taught Natsuki through actual combat, he had already made considerable progress just from the books.

Naturally, whenever he had the chance to fight, he was more than willing to put the techniques he had learned from those books to use.

After Gosu became the new captain of the 11th Division, Natsuki was promoted to vice-captain. Besides helping Gosu with the division's affairs as before, he also took on heavier combat duties.

Vice-captains and Third Seats were assigned different combat missions because of their differing ranks.

But Natsuki had no complaints. On the contrary, he longed to fight stronger opponents. He hadn't even realized that, since becoming a Soul Reaper and choosing to battle Hollows, he had gradually grown accustomed to this life of fighting.

Battle had become a hobby of his.

For Soul Reapers, time was a thoroughly insignificant thing.

In the blink of an eye, several more years passed.

Natsuki had grown completely accustomed to life as a vice-captain.

Some members of the 11th Division died in battle, while new members joined. After this changing of the guard, Natsuki had gone from a rookie who had just joined the 11th Division to a seasoned veteran.

He took the deaths of his fellow members in stride.

He had gradually grown accustomed to life and death.

Everyone would die, including him.

All he could do was make himself as strong as possible and thereby avoid death for as long as he could.

In the 4th Division.

Natsuki gripped his Asauchi and crossed blades with Unohana Retsu.

As their Asauchi clashed, the two figures darted toward each other, then just as swiftly pulled apart.

After a long period of reading, Unohana Retsu had finally begun teaching him Zanjutsu through actual combat.

Though Unohana Retsu seemed gentle, her attacks were ruthless and fierce.

Even after years of fighting, Natsuki had no shortage of practical experience.

But the Hollows he had faced before had known no combat techniques and moved clumsily. As long as he was fast enough and struck hard enough, he could easily cut them down.

Unohana Retsu was different. She had mastered superb combat techniques and moved with more agility than a Hollow.

So in their first sparring session, Natsuki was completely suppressed.

But he improved at a tremendous pace.

He had already read many of the ancient texts Unohana Retsu had provided and understood all kinds of combat techniques.

As Unohana Retsu continued to spar with him, he gradually transformed the theories in his mind into techniques he could truly use.

By now, Natsuki could hold his own against Unohana Retsu for quite a while.

"Vice-Captain Natsuki is improving remarkably quickly!" Unohana Retsu stopped and slid her Asauchi into its sheath. The spirited air she had carried during their fight faded, and she returned to her usual gentle demeanor. She spoke to Natsuki softly.

"That's all thanks to your teaching, Captain Unohana." Natsuki complimented Unohana Retsu.

Unohana Retsu smiled faintly, accepting his praise.

Then she continued, "But you'll probably be very busy for a while after this. I hope you'll take things seriously and stay alive. At the same time, make the most of every chance to fight and hone your Zanjutsu."

There was a note of gravity in Unohana Retsu's voice.

"Captain Unohana, do you know something I don't?" Natsuki heard her words, raised his eyebrows slightly, and couldn't help asking.

Though he was a vice-captain, in the Gotei 13, anyone who wasn't a captain was ultimately not entitled to know certain things.

Not every captain's meeting allowed vice-captains to attend.

Some important meetings were open only to captains.

Captains also knew many secrets that even vice-captains were unaware of.

The original story had made this clear from the moment Aizen first heard of the Royal Guard.

The Royal Guard's existence wasn't a secret to the captains. They casually discussed Hikifune Kirio's promotion.

But when their subordinates—the vice-captains—suddenly learned about it, they were still shocked.

The only question was whether Aizen's shocked expression had been an act, or whether he really hadn't known the Royal Guard existed before then.

Natsuki leaned toward the former. After all, Aizen had already created the Hogyoku by that point, and the Hollowfication Incident was only a few years away.

But the fact that he had pretended not to know still revealed a great deal.

It proved that vice-captains had less access to information than captains.

"There's no harm in telling you about this early. You'll know soon enough anyway."

Unohana Retsu spoke gently, making no effort to hide it. "The war between the Soul Reapers and the Quincy is about to begin. After assessing the threat posed by the Quincy, Central 46 issued an order to the Gotei 13 to go to war, deciding to exterminate all the Quincy in the Human World. Their existence has seriously disrupted the balance between souls."

"Your 11th Division is a combat division, so you'll be the main force fighting the Quincy!"