Method

Although Lin Nan did not fully understand what was written on the screen, he vaguely felt that it was directly related to his recent experiences.

He remembered the duel with Unohana, which was also the first time he had stepped into this strange combat replay room. That time, the screen had displayed the words "Shell Damaged," followed by "Shell Repairing."

Last time I was slashed three times by Unohana, but the wounds weren't serious... Perhaps that wasn't her holding back, but rather the protection of the spiritual pressure shell? Lin Nan turned around, looking at the bright moonlight reflecting off the corridor, lost in thought.

For absolute killing machines like Unohana and Zaraki Kenpachi, nothing brought them more joy than cutting others or being cut themselves; how could they possibly hold back when they fought? It was hard enough for ordinary people to survive under their hands, let alone keep all their limbs intact.

Lin Nan became increasingly convinced that his deduction was correct.

It was because of the existence of the [Shell] that he could withstand blades and other types of attacks. Unohana's blade was simply too sharp and fierce, exceeding the shell's defensive limit, which was why she had left wounds on his body.

Although Iwamoto Raizo had also breached the shell's defense, judging by the prompts on the screen, Lin Nan felt this did not mean Iwamoto possessed the same level of mastery as Unohana.

Because after Unohana's attack, the shell had been in an incomplete, damaged state, meaning its defensive power was lower than normal. Iwamoto's attack had likely just barely exceeded the shell's capacity while it was in the process of repairing.

After all, Lin Nan had fought Kyoraku for an entire night previously, suffering countless attacks from Kidō, wooden swords, and physical strikes.

"Although Kyoraku couldn't cause me any damage, I suspect his Kidō at least put some pressure on the shell's repair process. That actually let this old guy Iwamoto take advantage of the situation." Lin Nan clicked his tongue.

"It looks like the shell function is temporarily disabled now, so I need to focus more on evasion... And... I wonder what this 'Spiritual Pressure Internal Circulation' means?"

After pondering for a moment, he stopped obsessing over the words he didn't understand and turned back to the screen to watch the replay of his battle with Iwamoto Raizo.

"Let's see what I can learn from this old guy, and I'll pay him back tenfold when the time comes!"

The battle process was not complicated; in fact, it ended very quickly. Aside from the initial exchange of punches and kicks, Lin Nan confirmed that he was truly no match for this Iwamoto Raizo.

Although the reason he was stabbed was due to his own overconfidence, even if he hadn't done that, he likely wouldn't have lasted more than three more rounds.

This was because Iwamoto Raizo was not only skilled in hand-to-hand combat and swordsmanship, but he also knew Flash Step.

For a long time, Lin Nan had ignored the existence of Flash Step. Partly because in all the fights he had seen in the Soul Society, he hadn't seen anyone use it, leading him to overlook how much this skill aided combat.

It was just like when Kurosaki Ichigo was confused and defeated in an instant the first time he met Byakuya—it was caused by a lack of understanding of Flash Step.

The second reason was his overconfidence in the durability of his own body; subconsciously, he felt there was no need to guard against a sneak attack using Flash Step. With absolute defense, I am the ultimate camper; what is there to fear from a mere sneak attack?

"It's a good thing I discovered the shell has a damage reduction limit now, otherwise if I get tangled up with Unohana again in the future, wouldn't I end up losing an arm or a leg?" Thinking of this, Lin Nan couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.

He performed a series of operations, slowing down the video from the moment his grapple failed to the moment he was stabbed in the abdomen, and watched it repeatedly.

Watching himself get stabbed over and over, Lin Nan's mood shifted from fear to anger, and finally, he calmed down, beginning to focus on analyzing the key movements.

"This old guy used Flash Step to dodge my grapple, then used Flash Step again to return, using the momentum to pierce the shell's defense." On the screen, Lin Nan carefully observed every movement Iwamoto made during his Flash Step, from his footwork to his body coordination, and even the height and angle of his blade.

If one wanted a Flash Step to be fast and cover enough distance, it required sufficiently powerful physical capabilities to support it.

The Flash Step Iwamoto used to avoid the grapple involved simple forward-and-backward body movement without any turns or changes in direction, and the distance was no more than two meters, which was why it had made Lin Nan feel disoriented.

Flash Step: Novice; Flash Step Proficiency: +1; Total Flash Step Points: 1.

Looking at the text displayed on the screen, Lin Nan narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Although it says 'Novice,' I still don't have much confidence in mastering Flash Step." He muttered to himself, "My other skills are at least within the range of normal sensory reaction, but this Flash Step thing is like teleportation; I'm really afraid I'll run too far and slam into a wall..."

The moonlight in the corridor seemed to brighten a little. Lin Nan turned his head to look and said to himself, "That's enough, I need to go back and check. I shouldn't let those guys kill me off in the meantime; that would be a real disaster."

While pondering the key movements of Flash Step, he withdrew his consciousness from this space, and immediately, the sound of whipping and Kyoraku's painful gasps reached his ears.

"Boss, he's passed out." A voice said.

"Stop for now. He's still useful; we can't kill him." This was the voice of Iwamoto Raizo.

"What about the other one who's still unconscious?"

"Change the dressing on his wound in a while, and keep an eye on his condition. This person has the potential to be used by me, so he must be taken care of."

"Yes."

The footsteps gradually faded away, and Lin Nan slowly adapted to the light in front of him.

He was sitting on the ground with his back against a wall, inside a dim room built of stone. There was no furniture in the room, only a thick wooden post taller than a man standing in the center of the floor, with several oil lamps placed around it.

"The walls in front of me don't have windows. If the wall behind me doesn't have windows either, then this is likely a basement."

Lin Nan pondered to himself while squinting at a figure dragging the unconscious Kyoraku toward him.

The light was dim, and he couldn't see Kyoraku's condition clearly.

The person threw Kyoraku onto the ground, glanced at Lin Nan, and whispered, "Change your dressing? In your dreams. If I let you get recruited by the boss, wouldn't I be finding myself another superior?"

After speaking, the figure turned around swaggeringly and disappeared into the darkness not far away, followed by the sound of wooden sandals stepping on stairs.

Only then did Lin Nan open his eyes. His hands were still tied above his head, so he had to lower his head first to check the wound on his abdomen. Finding that it was no longer bleeding, he quickly turned his head and whispered Kyoraku's name.

After a long while, Kyoraku finally had a reaction, responding weakly, "Lin Nan... are... are you okay?"

Lin Nan tried his best to open his eyes to check on Kyoraku, but the light was too dim; apart from Kyoraku's silhouette on the ground, he couldn't see any details, only a patch of black.

Lin Nan anxiously whispered, "I'm fine! Shunsui, are you seriously injured? You can't sleep! You must not sleep..."

Kyoraku said intermittently, "I... I think I should... be able to survive..."

"Ah? Are you sure?"

"Sure... my whole body hurts, but there's no part that has lost sensation..."

"Uh... then I guess you can sleep for a bit to recover your strength." Seeing that Kyoraku was not in immediate danger, Lin Nan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Kyoraku gave a weak smile. "No, Lin Nan... we must find a way, a way to get out. He, they want to extract the military intelligence of the Seireitei from me..."

Lin Nan hesitated for a second before nodding. "If that's the case, they should give you a chance to recover; they won't easily take your life. We can plan slowly, and you can use the time to regain your strength. It's just... can you still walk properly?"

"A rest... should be, enough." Kyoraku's voice was intermittent.

"Then rest for a moment. I'll ponder if there's any way out." After saying this, Lin Nan remembered something. "Kyoraku, is there a Kido spell for illumination? It's too dark in here."

Kyoraku replied, "None..." and then fell silent.

Lin Nan calmed his mind, contemplating a means of escape. Kyoraku's hands were bound, but he wasn't tied to the wall. If he could stand up, he could untie Lin Nan.

However, the enemy's layout remained unclear, and both he and Kyoraku were injured. Even if they managed to free themselves, there was no guarantee they could break out.

He sat quietly in the darkness for nearly twenty minutes, and only when he heard Kyoraku's steady breathing did his heart settle slightly.

Two hours passed, and all the oil lamps had flickered out.

Kyoraku stirred awake. "Lin Nan... are you awake?"

"I haven't slept," Lin Nan whispered. "This is a basement; we can't see the sunlight. It might be daytime now, but I don't feel sleepy."

Kyoraku gave a bitter laugh. "You're more severely injured than I am, yet you let me sleep and rest."

Lin Nan shook his head indifferently. "It's fine, I was unconscious for a long time. By the way, I thought of a plan..."

Kyoraku's spirits lifted instantly; he arched his body on the floor and shuffled over to Lin Nan's side.

The two had barely whispered a few words when the sound of footsteps descending the stairs, accompanied by voices, drifted out of the darkness.

"How are the two young men doing?"

"Boss, it's been quiet all night. We haven't heard any other sounds."

A sliver of light suddenly appeared from the upper right, illuminating a few steps.

Kyoraku and Lin Nan felt a jolt in their hearts and quickly separated, resuming their act of feigning sleep.

As the footsteps drew closer, the light tore through the darkness of the basement. The figures of Iwamoto Raizo and several guards appeared before the two like ghosts.

Iwamoto Raizo stepped forward slowly, his expression as unchanging as stone:

"Good morning, gentlemen."