The One Who Got So Envious He Cried

The cheerful atmosphere turned serious. Seeing their expressions grow solemn, Hongjiang put away his teasing.

"I hadn't originally planned to do this," Urahara said solemnly. "After all, it involves our secrets."

"That's right! Besides, you could have deceived us. But since you're just stupid and weren't harboring any ill intentions, we'll reluctantly forgive you!" Yoruichi said, her chin held high.

Silence fell once more. The atmosphere had only just turned serious, but Yoruichi's words seemed to be making it frivolous again. Even Urahara lowered his head with a sigh and gave Yoruichi a pleading look.

"Go ahead. I won't interrupt again..." Yoruichi understood. She covered her mouth to show she'd behave and keep quiet.

"What do you have to say about your Zanpakuto?"

"Are you asking me?" Hongjiang pointed at himself. When Urahara nodded, he looked incredulous. Hadn't he already explained everything? What was this, were they going to keep at it forever?

"I don't think there's anything else to say. Or, if there's something you don't understand, you can just ask me!"

"Uh... I mean about your Zanpakuto's Shikai." Urahara thought for a moment, then added, "We've already seen your Shikai. Isn't there anything you want to say about it?"

So they thought he hadn't mentioned his Shikai. Did he really have to beat around the bush like that? They could've just asked!

"As you can see, my Jiagui is a direct-combat type, but it has four forms..." As he spoke, Hongjiang drew the Zanpakuto at his waist and intoned, "Seize him, Jiagui!"

The gauntlets that had appeared in the Sword Chamber materialized on Hongjiang's hands once more. Urahara opened his mouth to speak, but Hongjiang didn't notice and gave him no chance to get a word in.

"The first form is a pair of gauntlets. They have no Kido enhancements; they're just ordinary gauntlets..." Hongjiang threw a few punches, then continued, "The second form: Trample, Jiagui!"

The black gauntlets vanished without a trace, as if they'd never appeared.

In their place, a pair of black metal greaves appeared on Hongjiang's legs. They reached up to his knees, fully encasing his shins without hindering his movement. A Hannya Mask was embossed on each instep, and the four long, slender fangs arranged symmetrically above and below it would surely leave a mark on anything they touched.

"Like the gauntlets, these greaves have no special properties aside from being sturdy and lightweight..." Hongjiang resumed his explanation. "As for the third form, it's the Stinging Armor..."

"All right, all right! Stop!" This time, Urahara finally managed to cut in. He hadn't meant for Hongjiang to reveal all his secrets.

"Your sword does more than that, doesn't it?" Yoruichi had been staring in amazement. She'd completely forgotten about keeping quiet.

"That release was pretty fast!"

"Correction: It wasn't that the release was fast. There was no release time at all!"

Hongjiang grinned smugly. That was what he liked most about Jiagui. It couldn't compare to his other sword, but anyone who thought it was one of the weakest Zanpakuto would be a fool.

Generally speaking, Soul Reaper Zanpakuto fell into two categories. The first was the direct-combat type, whose Shikai changed the weapon's form without granting it any special abilities. Simply put, it was just a different weapon. These Zanpakuto were generally considered the weakest.

The other category was the Kido-combat type. These Zanpakuto all possessed a variety of abilities, which could be divided into attribute-based and rule-based types. Their abilities could greatly increase a Soul Reaper's combat strength.

All the Zanpakuto hailed as "the strongest" belonged to the Kido-combat type. Old Man Yama's Zanpakuto, for example, was known as the strongest fire-type Zanpakuto.

That was why, back in the Sword Chamber, some of the new students had looked down on Hongjiang's Zanpakuto when they realized it might be a direct-combat type. It wasn't jealousy; the boost these Zanpakuto offered really was too small to be worth envying.

But Hongjiang alone knew that his Zanpakuto, Jiagui, had a hidden ability. It was obvious, yet few people noticed it—even Urahara had overlooked it. It was the release speed Yoruichi had mentioned.

Releasing a Zanpakuto took time. The most obvious sign was the recitation of its release command. The process could be long or short, but it couldn't be avoided.

In theory, release speed was an important factor in a Soul Reaper's battles. A Zanpakuto that released quickly could gain the upper hand and even prevent an opponent from releasing their own.

In practice, though, it wasn't that simple. First, while release speeds differed, the gap wasn't all that great. Even the blink of an eye would count as too long, so this factor could essentially be ignored.

And even if someone could seize that brief opening and gain an advantage, they would be so much stronger than their opponent that they wouldn't need to rely on it to decide the battle.

So release speed was even less useful than a double-edged sword. It was of no use, yet there was nothing to lose by discarding it. But paired with the right Zanpakuto, release speed could become a deadly weapon—like Hongjiang's Jiagui.

"Actually, Jiagui doesn't need a release command," Hongjiang continued, explaining its release speed. "It doesn't even rely on conscious thought to release. It works through instinct and the body's reflexes."

"That sounds powerful, but it's not much use on its own. With your Jiagui, though..." Urahara mused.

"That makes it the strongest direct-combat Zanpakuto!" Yoruichi immediately chimed in. "But it'd need to be paired with something else, like... Hakuda!"

"Bingo!" Hongjiang snapped his fingers in approval. "That's our Hakuda master!"

Jiagui's normal form was a short sword, which already had limited range. After its Shikai, it became a close-combat weapon with literally zero distance between the fighters—in other words, hand-to-hand combat.

As the saying went, every inch of extra length gave you an advantage, while every inch shorter made things more dangerous. That danger wasn't just for the enemy; it described your own situation, too. You could strike an opponent's weak points more easily, but your own weaknesses were completely exposed. When weapons clashed at close range, that was when life and death were decided.

That was when one of the Soul Reapers' four fighting styles, Hakuda, came in. To Hongjiang, this art—focused on close combat and striking with fists and feet—was practically tailor-made for Jiagui.

"Here's what I have in mind..."

Before he could finish, Hongjiang leaped into the air. His right foot rose above his head, then his heel slammed down on the rock in front of him. With a tremendous crash, the boulder, which had been as tall as a person, split in two.

As soon as his right foot touched the ground, Hongjiang rose onto his toes and pivoted around them. His left leg swept across, kicking through the already-split boulder and breaking it into four pieces.

"Since its release relies on reflexes and instinct, you can draw your weapon when the enemy least expects it."

As he spoke, the greaves vanished from Hongjiang's legs. Jiagui returned to its Zanpakuto form, held in a reverse grip in his right hand, its blade buried deep in the upper-left fragment of rock.

Hongjiang flicked his wrist and lifted the blade. A head-sized chunk of rock flew toward his face.

"Seize him, Jiagui!"

He recited the command, but Jiagui had already vanished and released into its gauntlet form before he finished. It caught the flying rock securely. Hongjiang tightened his fingers slightly, crushing the stone into little pieces that fell to the ground.

"Brilliant!" Urahara had finally grasped what made Jiagui so remarkable. He stood to the side, clapping enthusiastically.

"Before its Shikai, it's suited for close-range combat. After its release, it's perfectly matched to Hakuda's zero-distance fighting style. More importantly, since there's no release time, you can switch between the two combat ranges at any moment."

Hongjiang was about to continue, but his left hand suddenly felt heavy. He turned to see Yoruichi hugging his gauntlet. Who knew when she'd come over?

"That release speed doesn't just make it adaptable to different combat ranges. Like when you caught that rock—during an actual fight, you'd be catching blades, right?" Yoruichi stroked Hongjiang's gauntlet with an enraptured expression. "You don't need to wear armor. One sword can handle all kinds of sudden situations. What a treasure!"

"Um, you're drooling..."

At Hongjiang's reminder, Yoruichi hurriedly wiped her mouth. She really was captivated by his Jiagui, but unfortunately, it wasn't her Zanpakuto.

She was the Hakuda master among the three of them, after all. It was no exaggeration to say that even among the older generation, her Hakuda was exceptional. In the future, she could even become the best Hakuda practitioner in the Seireitei. Yoruichi had that much confidence in herself.

So it was easy to imagine how much she longed for a Zanpakuto made specifically for Hakuda. Zanpakuto couldn't be traded, but if they could, she'd be willing to spend every last coin she had, on top of using threats and enticements, to get her hands on Jiagui.

"What a treasure... What a treasure. Too bad you ended up with the wrong master~" Yoruichi stroked Jiagui, though it wasn't clear whether she felt sorry for herself or for the sword.

"Don't you think you're going a little overboard?" Hongjiang said, rubbing his nose. "My Hakuda isn't strong, but it's not that bad... is it?"

Though Hongjiang had lied to them about his Zanpakuto earlier, not everything he'd said was false. For example, his uneven skills were a real thing.

Soul Reapers didn't have to study subjects like language and math from his previous life. Their main subjects were the four fighting styles: Sword, Kido, Movement, and Fist.

Sword referred to swordsmanship. Hongjiang had no problem with this one; he was at about the same level as Yoruichi and Urahara.

Kido referred to the advanced spells Soul Reapers cast using spiritual power. They were divided by function into Hadō, which focused on offense, and Bakudō, which focused on support. This was Hongjiang's specialty.

If Yoruichi was the Hakuda master, then Hongjiang was the Kido master. And he didn't just mean among his peers; his Kido ranked among the top five throughout the Seireitei. He was a genuine Kido master!

Movement referred to Flash Step, a type of footwork. It was a general term, simply meaning a step that instantly closed the distance. In fact, there were many different kinds of Flash Step. The Shihoin family, for instance, had its own unique style. This was Yoruichi's strongest area. Hongjiang was the weakest, but he was still decent.

So the area where Hongjiang was truly lacking was the last one: Hakuda, or close-quarters fighting. Yoruichi had every right to judge his skill in this area. "Calling your Hakuda weak is an insult to the word 'weak.' What was that phrase you used? A free win?"

That was right. Hongjiang's Hakuda was a free win for the enemy: he might as well hand his life over to them. That was the truth, and he had nothing to argue against it.

And yet this free-win expert had a Zanpakuto made for Hakuda. At the thought, Yoruichi was so envious she could cry. Why wasn't such a good sword hers? And if she couldn't have it, why give it to that walking free win? The heavens really were blind!