The 11th Division barracks, the bathhouse.
In the corner, Shiro sat on a wooden chair with a towel draped over his head.
He felt utterly exhausted.
And it was all because of the way the other squad members had looked at him just now.
No wonder his master had prepared to transfer him to another division as soon as he got his Zanpakuto. The prejudice against Kidō-type Zanpakuto here was no joke.
Especially when they were as unfairly powerful as his.
But he hadn't intended to use his Zanpakuto at all just now. Hyōrinmaru had protected him on its own when he was in danger, without Shiro's consent.
That was the drawback his master had mentioned: a Zanpakuto inherited rather than earned through one's own training.
The sword was strong, but its wielder was weak!
Right now, he was little more than a sheath.
Unless he gave up Hyōrinmaru, the only way to fully tame his Zanpakuto was through his own training.
But that was easier said than done.
It had taken his master nearly two hundred years to accomplish it.
He... would probably need at least fifty years, too, right?
Until then, he wouldn't be able to fully control his Zanpakuto, and things like this were sure to happen again and again.
It seemed he really would have to transfer.
But just as Shiro was thinking hard, a basin of hot water suddenly came pouring down over his head.
"Hot, hot, hot, hot..." Shiro sprang up and turned toward the culprit, who was snickering. "Master, what are you doing?!"
"Hahahaha! Who told you to sigh like some little kid? You'll grow old fast that way." Aoto tucked the copper basin under one arm, rested his other hand on his hip, and spoke with careless bravado. "You've already got white hair at a young age. Add wrinkles and age spots, and you'll really look like a little old man!"
A web of black lines appeared over Shiro's head. "My hair's naturally this color!!! And I'm not a little kid anymore!"
The thing Shiro hated most was being mistaken for a child.
But Aoto looked at Shiro, his gaze gradually moving lower, lower, and lower...
"Tch!" Aoto wore a disdainful expression. "You say you're not a kid, but you haven't even grown any hair!"
Shiro's already-thin skin turned red at once.
Before he could react, Aoto burst out laughing and tossed him headfirst into the bath!
Hyōrinmaru's Reiatsu was about to flare up again.
But Aoto tapped the air, and a sudden wave of heat made Hyōrinmaru's Reiatsu vanish.
Shiro plunged headfirst into the bath in a most undignified fashion.
Apparently unaware of the clash that had taken place, Shiro finally managed to get his feet on the floor and surfaced. Embarrassed and furious, he grabbed the copper basin beside him, scooped up water, and splashed it at Aoto. "Take this!"
Aoto didn't dodge and got a faceful of water.
Wiping the water from his face, Aoto shouted, "You little ingrate, daring to ambush your master! Take my Lightning Five-Fold Splash!"
Aoto scooped up hot water from the bucket beside him and hurled it at Shiro with all his might.
But Shiro suddenly sank back underwater.
Well, well. He'd hidden underwater to avoid getting splashed... Was he really that determined not to lose?
Feeling the water above him ripple, Shiro rose to counterattack, only to have another basin of water dumped right over his head.
"Hahaha! You hid underwater to dodge the first basin, but you couldn't avoid the second one I saved for when you came up! You blocked your own view—that was a terrible move! Why not surface somewhere else?"
Splashed again, Shiro let out a series of yells.
The master and student went wild, horsing around in the bath.
When they'd finally played themselves out, the gloom that had faded from Shiro's mood returned in full.
With his whole body submerged and only his towel-covered head sticking out of the water, Shiro asked Aoto, "Master, should I transfer to another division?"
"Soon! Once your Hakuda and Flash Step are good enough to satisfy me, you can go! I'm not very good at teaching Kidō, so you can learn that after you get to the 10th Division!"
Shiro grew a little dejected again, but then suddenly perked up and grinned. "So you're not good at Kidō, Master! And here you were saying your swordsmanship, Hakuda, Kidō, and Flash Step were all well balanced."
"You little rascal." Aoto tapped Shiro on the head. "I said I'm not good at teaching it, not that I'm bad at it. Are you asking to try my Kidō?"
Shiro was unconcerned. "How are you going to use Kidō in a bathhouse? You're all talk, Master."
"You really think so? Heh!" Aoto's lips curled up. "Hadō #11: Tsuzuri Raiden!"
Aoto lightly touched the surface of the water with his finger, and wave after wave of tingling current spread through it.
"Bzzzt..."
Shiro's hair stood on end from the electric shock.
Aoto was more or less in the same state, but he found it quite pleasant.
"Hahaha! A little electric shock is good for the body!" Seeing that Shiro was about to roll his eyes, Aoto finally stopped.
Shiro nearly collapsed in the bath.
After finally recovering, Shiro pouted. "I'm sure whoever invented this Kidō never imagined someone in the future would use it like that."
Aoto didn't care in the slightest about Shiro's sarcasm. He waved a hand. "There are plenty of things the people before us never imagined. If I can think of it, then I'm the first to do it!"
"Everything is constantly changing. There's nothing wrong with preserving the old ways, but if you only cling to them and refuse to change even a little with the times, then you're definitely in the wrong!"
"Take your Hyōrinmaru, for instance," Aoto said. "Shiro, can you think of any special training methods to modify it?"
Shiro shook his head.
He hadn't even thought about it.
Aoto looked exasperated. "I've already told you how to tame your Zanpakuto. Why are you still dragging your feet?"
Shiro felt rather ashamed...
Could it be that his master had a good idea?
Shiro looked at him expectantly.
"Of course!" Aoto said with a grin. "In my view, Hyōrinmaru's strongest ability isn't creating an Ice Dragon, but Heavenly Weather Manifestation!"
Of course, Shiro's Reiatsu limited the area he could control, but within that range, his control was absolute.
And weather... wasn't limited to ice.
"What if someone isn't afraid of being frozen?" Aoto pointed overhead. "Then just change the weather!"
"Lightning seems like a good choice to me. After all, impure ice conducts electricity! Whether you release the electricity yourself or use ice to make a lightning rod, you can hit your opponent effectively."
"As a warrior, you should never rely on just one way of fighting."
"After all, there's no single strongest power that can dominate every other ability in every situation!"
"But if you can use an ability that perfectly counters each different opponent, wouldn't that make you invincible?"