Cried from Craving

The previously cheerful atmosphere grew heavy, and Hongjiang, seeing the increasingly serious expressions on the two, set aside his playful demeanor.

"We didn't intend to do this," Urahara said first, his expression grave. "After all, this involves our secrets."

"Right! Besides, you could have deceived us, but since you're just a bit dim and harbor no ill intent, we'll reluctantly forgive you!" Yoruichi said, chin tilted upward.

The surroundings fell silent once more; the hard-won gravity of the moment seemed ready to dissolve into nonsense thanks to Yoruichi's words. Even Urahara lowered his head and sighed, casting a pleading look at her.

"You speak, I won't interrupt..." Yoruichi understood, covering her mouth to signal she would be a well-behaved mute from here on out.

"Do you have anything to say regarding your Zanpakuto?"

"Are you asking me?" Hongjiang pointed at himself, and seeing Urahara nod, he looked incredulous. Hadn't he already explained everything? What was this, a never-ending interrogation?

"I don't think there's anything left to say, or, if there's anything you don't understand, you can just ask me directly!"

"Uh, I meant regarding the Shikai of your Zanpakuto." Urahara thought for a moment and added, "We've already seen your Shikai; nothing else to say?"

So he was complaining that he hadn't talked about the Shikai. Was it necessary to be so circuitous? He could have just said so!

"As you can see, my Jiagui is a direct-attack type, but it has four forms..." Hongjiang said, drawing the Zanpakuto from his waist and whispering, "Seize him, Jiagui!"

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

"The first form is the gauntlet. It has no Kido enhancement; it's just a pair of simple gauntlets..." Hongjiang swung his fists and continued, "Second form, Trample, Jiagui!"

The black gauntlets vanished as if they had never existed.

In their place, a pair of black metal boots appeared on Hongjiang's feet. The boots reached his knees, completely encasing his lower legs without hindering his agility. On the instep of each boot was a relief of a Hannya Mask, and the four symmetrical, sharp, elongated fangs were sure to leave a mark on anything they touched.

"Like the gauntlets, these boots have no special properties other than being sturdy and lightweight..." Hongjiang's explanation continued, "As for the third form, it is the Spike Armor..."

"Alright, alright! Stop!" Urahara finally managed to cut in; his intention was not to let Hongjiang reveal all his trump cards.

"Your blade isn't just this, is it?" Yoruichi's eyes had been glued to the display, the promise of being a mute completely forgotten.

"The release speed is quite fast!"

"Correction: it's not that the release speed is fast, it's that there is no release speed!"

Hongjiang smiled smugly. This was the aspect of Jiagui that satisfied him most. While it couldn't compare to his other blade, it would be foolish to dismiss it as the weakest type of Zanpakuto.

Generally speaking, Shinigami Zanpakuto are divided into two categories. One is the direct-attack type, where the Shikai changes the form of the blade without granting special functions—simply put, it's just changing weapons. These are traditionally considered the weakest.

The other is the Kido-attack type. These Zanpakuto possess various abilities, which can be further categorized into elemental or rule-based types, providing the Shinigami with a massive boost in combat power.

The various blades hailed as the "strongest" are all Kido-attack types; for instance, Old Man Yama's Zanpakuto is known as the strongest fire-type.

That was why, in the Sword Chamber, some new recruits had shown disdain upon seeing Hongjiang's blade was a direct-attack type. It wasn't jealousy; it was because the bonuses provided by direct-attack types were indeed too meager to be worth envying.

But only Hongjiang knew that his Zanpakuto, Jiagui, possessed a hidden ability. It was obvious, yet rarely noticed—an ability even Urahara had overlooked: what Yoruichi called the release speed.

The release of a Zanpakuto requires a process, most intuitively manifested through the chanting of a release command. This process varies in length but is unavoidable.

Logically, release speed is a crucial factor in a Shinigami's combat. Theoretically, a Zanpakuto with a fast release speed could seize the initiative, perhaps even suppressing an opponent before they could release their own blade.

In reality, however, this isn't the case. First, while release speeds differ, the gap is negligible—a blink of an eye is considered long. Thus, this factor is usually ignored.

Even if someone could seize that split-second error to gain an advantage, such a person would already be on a completely different level of strength than their opponent, making such a tactic unnecessary to decide the outcome.

Therefore, release speed is less than useless—tasteless to eat, yet a pity to discard. But if paired with the right Zanpakuto, release speed can become a lethal weapon, just like the Jiagui in Hongjiang's hands.

"Actually, Jiagui doesn't require a release chant," Hongjiang continued, explaining the point of release speed. "Its release isn't even triggered by conscious thought, but by subconsciousness and physical reflexes."

"Sounds powerful, but usually useless. However, if it's your Jiagui..." Urahara mused.

"Then it's the strongest direct-attack type!" Yoruichi chimed in. "But it has to be paired with something else, for example... Hakuda!"

"Bingo!" Hongjiang snapped his fingers, praising her. "As expected of our Hakuda master!"

Jiagui's normal form is a short blade, which already has a short attack range. After Shikai, it becomes a close-quarters weapon, bringing the attack range to true zero-distance—what is commonly known as hand-to-hand combat.

As the saying goes, "an inch longer is an inch stronger, an inch shorter is an inch more dangerous." This danger applies not only to the enemy but also to oneself; while it is easier to strike an enemy's weak point, one's own weaknesses are also fully exposed. Close-quarters combat has always been a matter of life and death.

This is where Hakuda, one of the four arts of the Shinigami, comes in. In Hongjiang's view, this art, which specializes in close-range combat and lethal strikes with fists and feet, was tailor-made for Jiagui.

"My concept is like this..."

Before he finished speaking, Hongjiang leaped into the air, his right foot rising above his head, and slammed his heel into the rock in front of him. With a loud bang, the man-sized rock shattered into two.

As soon as his right foot touched the ground, Hongjiang pivoted on his toes, his left foot sweeping horizontally to cleave the already split rock in two, turning two pieces into four.

"Because the release relies on physical reflexes and the subconscious, I can strike unexpectedly."

As he spoke, the boots on his legs vanished, and Jiagui reverted to its short-blade form, which Hongjiang gripped in his right hand, the tip already deeply embedded in a fragment of rock to his upper left.

With a flick of his wrist, Hongjiang pried the blade, and a rock fragment the size of a human head flew toward his face.

"Seize him, Jiagui!"

Though he chanted, Jiagui had already shifted into its gauntlet form before the chant was even finished, firmly catching the flying rock. Hongjiang applied a little pressure with his five fingers, and the rock was crushed into small pebbles that fell to the ground.

"Brilliant!" Urahara, finally seeing the extraordinary nature of Jiagui, clapped his hands enthusiastically from the side.

"When unreleased, it satisfies close-range combat; after Shikai, it perfectly complements the zero-distance combat of Hakuda. More importantly, because there is no release speed, I can switch between zero and close-range combat distances at any time."

Hongjiang wanted to continue, but his left hand suddenly felt heavy. Turning his head, he saw Yoruichi hugging his gauntlet; he had no idea when she had moved over.

"This release speed doesn't just bring adaptability in combat distance; just like when you caught that rock, in a real fight, you'd be catching blades, wouldn't you?" Yoruichi stroked Hongjiang's gauntlet, her face filled with obsession. "No need to wear armor; one blade can handle all kinds of emergencies. What a treasure!"

"Um, you're drooling..."

Hearing Hiroe's reminder, Yoruichi hurriedly wiped her mouth. She was truly captivated by this Jiagui of Hiroe's, but unfortunately, it was not her own Zanpakuto.

One must know that she was the master of Hakuda among the three of them; it was no exaggeration to say that her Hakuda level was considered strong even among the older generation. She even had the confidence that in the future, she could become the number one in Hakuda within the Seireitei.

Thus, one could imagine how much Yoruichi yearned for a Zanpakuto born specifically for Hakuda. It was just that Zanpakuto could not be traded; otherwise, she would have been willing to go bankrupt, use coercion, and employ bribery just to get her hands on Jiagui.

"Oh baby, oh baby, it's a pity you're with the wrong master~" Yoruichi stroked Jiagui, unsure if she was feeling indignant for herself or pitying the blade.

"Don't you think you're going a bit too far?" Hiroe said, rubbing his nose. "Although my Hakuda isn't exactly strong, it's not... too weak, right?"

Although Hiroe had lied to the two of them about his Zanpakuto earlier, not everything he said was false; for instance, the issue of his lopsided skills was indeed a reality.

Shinigami did not need to study subjects like language or mathematics from their previous lives; their main curriculum consisted of the four arts—Zanjutsu, Kido, Hoho, and Hakuda.

Zanjutsu meant swordsmanship. Hiroe had no issues here, as he was on the same level as Yoruichi and Urahara.

Kido represented spiritual arts, which were advanced incantations cast by Shinigami using spiritual power. They were divided into Hado for offense and Bakudo for support, and this was Hiroe's specialty.

If Yoruichi was a master of Hakuda, then Hiroe was a master of Kido. This did not just refer to his peers; across the entire Seireitei, Hiroe's Kido level could rank in the top five. He was a true master of Kido!

As for Hoho, represented by Shunpo, it was a footwork technique. This was a general term, simply understood as footwork for instantaneous movement. In reality, there were various types of Shunpo; for example, the Shihoin family had their own unique version. Yoruichi was the strongest in this area, while Hiroe was the weakest, though still passable.

Therefore, the area where Hiroe was truly lopsided was the final one: Hakuda, or close-quarters combat. In this regard, Yoruichi had the absolute right to speak. "Calling your Hakuda 'weak' is an insult to the word 'weak.' What was it you called it again? A freebie?"

Yes, Hiroe's Hakuda was indeed a "freebie"—giving his life away to the enemy for free. This was a fact, and Hiroe had nothing to refute.

To think that such a "freebie" expert actually possessed a Zanpakuto specialized in Hakuda made Yoruichi both envious and tearful. Why couldn't such a good blade be hers! Even if it wasn't for her, why give it to that "freebie" guy? Truly, the heavens were blind!