Kendo Exchange, Guidance from the First Kenpachi

Since he could not avoid it, he might as well enjoy it.

Training was not about shutting oneself away and reinventing the wheel.

Exchanging pointers with the strong allowed one to better blend what one had learned. Once everything was integrated, one could bring out twelve parts of strength from ten.

Su Feng had a clear understanding of himself. He merely had a high starting point; he had not yet reached the finish line.

"That would be wonderful."

Retsu Unohana smiled gently. "My work happens to be finished as well. Why not join me in the dojo, Captain Su Feng?"

Su Feng nodded. Ignoring the astonished, bewildered looks of the division members nearby, the two headed off in another direction.

Watching their retreating figures, Seinosuke Yamada gritted his teeth and urged them on with a fierce expression:

"What are you looking at? Hurry up and deliver the Adjuchas to the Sixth Research Lab!"

After the seated officers delivered the massive creature to its designated location,

Seinosuke Yamada stopped hesitating and immediately headed toward the dojo.

He knew Retsu Unohana's attainments in kendo were extraordinary, but he still had to prepare for the worst.

If that Tsunayashiro Su Feng dared harm his beloved captain, then he, Seinosuke Yamada, would definitely...

He secretly gritted his teeth, only to realize he could not think of anything that might threaten Su Feng.

The difference in their strength was simply too vast. They were not even on the same level.

As for status and standing, the gap was even more absurd...

The Fourth Division's barracks covered an enormous area. Aside from the General Relief Station, there were gardens, pharmacies, morgues, and other buildings.

Since Retsu Unohana herself loved kendo, she had also established a corresponding dojo within the barracks.

After passing through several more corridors, the two arrived near the dojo together.

"Please wait here for a moment, Captain Su Feng."

Retsu Unohana pushed open a partition door beside them and walked inside.

When she emerged, Su Feng's eyes could not help but light up.

She had removed her Captain's Haori and Shinigami Uniform, symbols of her identity, replacing them with a pure white kendo uniform.

A red sash cinched her waist, while locks of black hair fell before her. She had lost some of her gentle grace, but gained a great deal of crisp, capable sharpness.

She was entirely unlike her usual self.

It was like a gentian transforming into sawgrass, like medicinal herb that healed the sick and saved the dying suddenly becoming yarrow, a symbol of battle.

"Please, come in, Captain Su Feng."

Her gentle smile remained unchanged, though it now carried a trace more anticipation and restraint.

Retsu Unohana slid open the dojo doors and gestured for Su Feng to enter.

The dojo's broad, empty floor was completely bare. Only a few ikebana arrangements stood in one corner. A faint fragrance filled the air, leaving one refreshed and at ease.

It could only be said that this was worthy of the Fourth Division's domain. Everywhere held something meant to calm the mind.

In Retsu Unohana's view, a healthy state of mind aided patients in recovering from illness and injury.

This was experience she had accumulated over countless years.

Since this was merely a kendo exchange, neither chose to use a Zanpakuto. Instead, they borrowed bamboo swords used for practice in the dojo.

The two stood at the center, bamboo swords in hand, as the aura unique to kendo masters gathered between them.

By the time Seinosuke Yamada and several idle seated officers arrived near the dojo, the two still held their original stances without the slightest change.

The only difference was that their gazes had become increasingly sharp.

Only by experiencing it firsthand could one feel the oppressive presence of the First Kenpachi.

That was Su Feng's first impression.

Simply meeting her gaze felt like standing amid the freezing gale of the depths of winter. The bone-piercing cold made him instinctively tighten his grip on the bamboo sword.

Fortunately, Su Feng was no mere pretender. Having reached the level of 10th Dan in kendo, he had already grasped what fighting spirit meant in battle.

Though his gaze lacked Retsu Unohana's purity, it still stirred something within her.

Looking at the jade-like figure before her, Retsu Unohana could not help but tremble inwardly.

It had been far too long since she had seen such eyes.

Unlike Kenpachi Zaraki's beastlike, bloodthirsty gaze, Su Feng's eyes were filled with blade-like sharpness and rock-like resolve.

Their auras intertwined, rising without end.

Until...

The corners of Retsu Unohana's lips slowly rose, and her aura underwent another earth-shaking transformation.

In Su Feng's vision, bloody energy began coiling continuously around the pure white figure before him. A pungent, dense stench of blood flooded the dojo.

It was as though... the First Kenpachi had stepped slowly out of Blood Pond Hell, arms spread wide as she invited him to join her.

Nearly congealed, viscous blood flowed and spilled forth, until it covered the entire dojo in an instant.

Retsu Unohana moved.

Her bamboo sword rose, then slashed down with fierce speed.

Kendo: Heavenly Heart Degree Famous Style!

As Yachiru, who claimed to have mastered every school of swordsmanship in the world, Retsu Unohana began with an exceptionally profound kendo style.

The bamboo sword in her hand seemed as boundless as the horizon, its majestic force pressing down on Su Feng.

The illusion before Su Feng shattered instantly. Faced with extreme danger, he swung his bamboo sword on instinct.

Smack!

The bamboo swords collided, their crisp impact echoing through the dojo.

Su Feng successfully received the first probing strike. His right arm holding the bamboo sword instinctively thrust forward, attempting to overpower her through strength.

Seeing this, Retsu Unohana's face once again bloomed with a gentle, delighted smile, like a child who had received something she dearly wanted.

"As expected, I was not mistaken about you, Captain Su Feng."

"Your proficiency in the No-Dwelling Heart Sword Style alone has already surpassed Kyoraku and the others."

"The others" referred to several people, the weakest of whom were still captain-class Shinigami.

Without captain-class strength, no matter how formidable one's kendo was, one could not exchange pointers with someone on Retsu Unohana's level.

The force of the bamboo swords clashing alone was enough to split an ordinary Shinigami's grip and leave them unable to stand steadily.

"You flatter me, Captain Unohana."

Before Retsu Unohana, Su Feng showed a rare moment of modesty.

Their brief conversation did not halt the battle. Instead, like the final calm before a storm, it instantly drove this so-called kendo exchange to its peak.

At a speed the naked eye could not follow, Retsu Unohana launched another attack. The bamboo sword in her hand seemed alive, slashing and chopping from all manner of bizarre angles toward gaps in Su Feng's defenses.

Su Feng refused to be outdone. Gripping the bamboo sword with both hands, he freely unleashed the kendo styles stored within his mind.

Just as he had said before, instinct belonged to beasts; only reason allowed one to control oneself.

Amid countless collisions of bamboo swords, innumerable kendo styles merged and integrated, thoroughly becoming Su Feng's own.

Retsu Unohana's attacks were like a heavy hammer, each blow driving some impurities from a block of iron.

Su Feng was like a small boat, pressing onward through violent wind and rain until he climbed to the summit!