Classmate, Please Complete Your Homework Independently (Thanks to Da Qin Shen Gun for the Donation)

"Have you ever seen Teacher Ao's fighting style?"

"He taught me Kido. Isn't that a stupid question?" Hongjiang rolled his eyes, tapping the air with his index finger as he said smugly, "Understated luxury, unmatched coolness. As expected of Ao~!"

Hongjiang and Yoruichi had already left the hot spring. Even something this nice could make you dizzy if you soaked in it too long. As for Urahara, he'd called out to him just now, but the other man seemed lost in thought and hadn't responded.

Yoruichi had been asking him about Ao ever since they started talking. At first, Hongjiang had wondered if Yoruichi had figured something out, and he'd been terribly nervous. But now it seemed she'd simply been captivated by his magnificent presence! Thinking of that, Hongjiang started grinning foolishly to himself again.

That made three times now. Yoruichi had put up with it the first two times, but now? There was nothing to discuss. She just served him a punch. Some people simply needed a good beating!

"Are you better now? Can you talk properly?"

"I'm ready. Go ahead..."

Looking at Hongjiang, who had a lump on his head but still wore a perfectly serious expression, Yoruichi's mouth twitched. She nearly burst out laughing. She secretly pinched her leg with her right hand to suppress the urge. They'd finally managed to make the atmosphere serious; she couldn't ruin it again.

"What do you think is Hakuda's biggest weakness?" After asking, Yoruichi worried Hongjiang might not understand what she meant, so she added, "Or, what does Hakuda lack that keeps it from being a captain-level fighter's primary means of combat?"

"Power!" Hongjiang answered without a moment's thought. He wasn't worried Yoruichi wouldn't understand. She knew Hakuda better than he did.

Soul Reapers fought by comparing spiritual pressure. Spiritual pressure was the highly concentrated spiritual power formed by compressing the power within their bodies once they could no longer improve its purity.

But perhaps because of their bodies, Soul Reapers couldn't maintain spiritual pressure outside themselves for long the way Hollows could. Or rather, they couldn't do so without some kind of method, such as a Zanpakuto.

A Zanpakuto's Shikai could further increase the spiritual pressure released outside the body. With Bankai, a captain-level Soul Reaper could even raise it dozens of times beyond that. From this perspective, a Zanpakuto could practically be considered a Soul Reaper's true body.

That was why the stronger a Soul Reaper was, the more they relied on their Zanpakuto in battle, using other methods as support. As for pure Hakuda, most Soul Reapers had practically abandoned it altogether, let alone made it their primary fighting style. The reason was simple: Hakuda's power was far too limited, both offensively and defensively.

"What if we used another method to make up for the power Hakuda lacks?"

"Like Kido?" Hongjiang said, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Yoruichi. It seemed history hadn't strayed from its original course after all. Yoruichi was still heading down this path.

Zanpakuto weren't the only way to maintain and increase spiritual pressure outside the body. Kido, one of the Four Great Combat Arts, could do the same. That was why the Chief and Deputy Chief of the Kido Corps could reach captain-level combat strength through Kido alone, without relying on a Zanpakuto.

Kido was powerful. High-level spells could even rival the Bankai of most Zanpakuto. But it had its drawbacks: one was the time it took to cast, and the other was its exceptionally high demands on talent.

The higher the level of the Kido, the longer its incantation. Fewer than ten people in all the Seireitei, including Hongjiang, could cast spells above number ninety without an incantation.

And reciting an incantation didn't mean you could cast the corresponding Kido. Learning it genuinely required talent. Before Hongjiang, only two people had reached captain-level through Kido. This path was even more difficult than mastering Bankai.

"Exactly!" Yoruichi slapped her thigh and spoke excitedly. Hongjiang might have been a pain, but he was the one who understood her best!

"Here's what I'm thinking!" Yoruichi stood up and paced in circles in front of Hongjiang as she explained. "Use Kido to raise and maintain spiritual pressure around the body, increasing Hakuda's power while also making up for Kido's slow casting and its vulnerability to interruption in close combat! But that still won't work... Let me think."

Shunkō was a fighting style that fused Hakuda with Kido, and its creator was none other than the Shihoin Yoruichi standing before him. But at this point, Shunkō was still only a theory—one that wasn't even fully formed yet.

Of course, Hongjiang knew the theory behind Shunkō, and now that he'd become a Soul Reaper, he understood it even more clearly.

Just as Yoruichi had said, Kido could make up for Hakuda's lack of power, while Hakuda's flexibility reduced the chance of Kido missing, greatly increasing its threat.

Shunkō was equally effective on the defensive. Kido released through the body could cancel out an enemy's Kido-like attacks with an equal amount of spiritual pressure, solving the problem that most troubled skilled Hakuda fighters.

"Hey, could you stop pacing? You're making me dizzy! If something's bothering you, sit down and talk it over with me." Hongjiang rubbed his temples and offered his suggestion helplessly.

"Oh, right. You're here. I almost forgot!"

Great. One second she'd been insisting that he listen carefully, and the next she'd completely forgotten he was there! Hongjiang scoffed. Heh, women!

Yoruichi paid no attention to what Hongjiang was thinking. She crouched in front of him, grabbed his shoulders with both hands, and asked earnestly, "Do you know where I got this idea?"

Hongjiang shook his head. He really didn't know. In his previous life, he'd never heard that Yoruichi had seen something that inspired her to develop Shunkō.

"It was Teacher Ao! His fighting style gave me the idea! He judged situations precisely and used the right Kido to turn an attack aside with another attack. That's it! What I'm missing is precise judgment!"

Hongjiang froze. The person who'd inspired Yoruichi was me? I was the first one to set the wheels of history in motion?!

What Ao had shown was the fighting style Hongjiang knew best. His original aim had been to amplify his greatest advantage—his control over spiritual power—and end fights while conserving as much energy as possible. He'd never imagined it could inspire Yoruichi.

"Do you think Teacher Ao could design a new Kido for me? One that automatically detects the enemy's spiritual pressure and releases an equal amount to cancel it out?"

"Keep dreaming~" Hongjiang replied without thinking, having just come back to his senses. When he saw Yoruichi's expression darken at once, he quickly explained, "I mean, how could anyone develop a Kido like that? I'm not saying I won't help you!"

"Just because you can't do it doesn't mean Teacher Ao can't!"

"Who are you looking down on? Aren't Ao and I the same person?!" Hongjiang howled inwardly. But he couldn't say that to Yoruichi, so he tried to reason with her. "A Kido that can make its own decisions would basically have a mind of its own. Do you really think a person could make something like that?"

Yoruichi stuck out her lower lip and plopped down on the ground. She knew a Kido like that was almost impossible. She'd only asked on the off chance it might work. Sure enough, no matter how incredible Ao was, he was still a Soul Reaper.

"You! Take me to Teacher Ao!" Yoruichi pointed at Hongjiang and said indignantly, "I'm going to ask him to teach me!"

"Ah!" Hongjiang was stunned. What was she up to now?

"I want to learn Kido from him so I can combine Hakuda and Kido!"

Great. He hadn't just set the wheels of history in motion; somehow, he'd managed to get himself tangled up in them. All Hongjiang wanted to say was, "Can't you do your homework on your own?" But looking at Yoruichi, he figured saying that would probably end their friendship.

Other transmigrators could just learn whatever they wanted. So why did he feel like he was everyone's father and mother? This was so hard!!!