The chaotic battlefield fell silent.
Horrified gazes fixed on the ink-black arm standing in the center.
Something beyond their comprehension had appeared.
No one knew what had happened. Even Kuchiki Sojun had no idea what was going on.
He stared blankly at that godlike figure. Countless wisps of shadow crawled over its deep, dark form, twisting like black snakes.
Countless branchlike tendrils greedily drank in the chaotic, overlapping Reiatsu in the air, creeping through the scorched earth and bloodshed as they reflected the Shinigami's terrified faces.
"Stay calm!"
A roar from somewhere among the rebels broke the deathly silence.
"It's just an illusion! There's nothing to fear!"
"I, Morishita Katsuya, will shatter it!"
"Cut him to pieces, Thorn Maru!"
The rebel leader held his Zanpakuto horizontally before him. The instant his Reiatsu erupted, a flood of white light burst forth.
Then countless black, thorn-covered vines shot from the hilt, surging straight toward the shadowy right arm in the center of the battlefield.
Morishita Katsuya grinned viciously, his arrogant voice echoing across the battlefield.
"This ends here, monster."
"No one can escape Thorn Maru's restraints. Not even a captain."
"Now, be a good little monster and die!"
As he spoke, his Reiatsu flared. The black vines gleamed with an unusual light, and countless thorns on them grew and contracted wildly, trying to crush the shadow's right hand to pieces!
At the sight, the rebels found their courage again. Excited expressions spread across their bloodstained faces, and their jeering voices rang out one after another.
"That's it!"
"As expected of Lord Morishita! He's invincible!"
"Kill him! The final victory belongs to us!"
Hearing their shouts, Kuchiki Sojun began to panic. He had recognized what the right hand standing in the middle of the battlefield was.
Some time ago, he had spent a thousand Kan at the Spiritual Arts Academy to buy an Amulet.
The pattern on the Amulet was identical to that enormous shadowy hand.
To be honest,
the Amulet had already been worth every coin if it could protect him from one fatal blow.
So,
even if the shadowy right hand was crushed to pieces now, he wouldn't be disappointed in the slightest.
But what happened next gave Kuchiki Sojun an entirely new understanding of the phrase "worth every coin."
A teeth-grating crunch rang out again and again from the shadow.
One thorn after another snapped, signaling that the scales of victory were beginning to tip.
The shadow's branchlike tendrils clung to the Shinigami, drawing in the chaotic Reiatsu drifting through the air and instantly crushing their outer defenses.
The next moment,
mist surged forth like a rising tide, and everything on the battlefield came to a momentary halt.
The Shinigami's expressions and movements froze, as if someone had pressed pause.
Crack, crack, crack...
Explosive sounds rang out from the bodies of the Shinigami wrapped in shadow, as if something had shattered.
There was no spurt of blood, nor any shrill, piercing wail.
When the mist cleared, the thirty-seven Shinigami had become withered skeletons.
The Shinigami on the Kuchiki Clan's side stared at the hellish scene before them, instinctively falling into a daze.
Everything had happened in the blink of an eye. Before they could even figure out what was going on, the scales of victory had already tipped.
The remaining rebels shivered at the sight, then ran for their lives without waiting for any orders.
Their leader, Morishita Katsuya, had the strength of an upper Seated Officer, and even he was dead. Were they supposed to stay and die with him?
Watching the rebels flee, the Shinigami on the Kuchiki side called out to one another and eagerly gave chase.
Kuchiki Sojun, however, stood rooted to the spot, still unable to recover from the shock of what had just happened.
Soon, he was alone on the vast battlefield.
Sojun walked to the spot where the shadowy right hand had stood. A little pure black dust remained on the grass.
He took the completely shattered Amulet from around his neck and murmured in a daze,
"I don't think 'worth every coin' quite covers it."
"A thousand Kan decided the course of a war. I've never made a better deal!"
Spiritual Arts Academy, Kaido Classroom.
At the front of the classroom, a student nervously watched the white mouse in front of him, pale green light glowing in his hands.
As he infused it with Reiatsu, the deep wound on the mouse's back, severe enough to expose bone, healed at a visible pace.
Tiny buds of flesh sprouted, pushing out the remaining clotted blood and weaving new tissue.
The essence of Kaido was actually very similar to the medical ninjutsu practiced in the neighboring village: it used Reiatsu to stimulate cells and heal the wounded.
"Mm, an excellent demonstration."
The Kaido teacher examined the mouse's back and nodded with satisfaction.
"Follow the steps I just showed you. Inflict injuries of varying severity on the mice, then use the Kaido techniques I taught you to treat them."
"The more severe the injury, the harder it will be to heal."
"Of course, you'll also earn a higher grade in this class."
"All right, you can start practicing now. I'll keep an eye on your technique."
Below the podium,
Kisaragi Akira rubbed his chin and nodded thoughtfully. Then he turned to Aizen beside him and asked bluntly,
"Sosuke, I'm not very good at Kaido."
"Do you know any tricks for improving healing efficiency?"
In everyone else's eyes, Aizen was unremarkable, of ordinary talent, and ranked somewhere in the middle of the class.
But to Kisaragi Akira, this guy was every bit as much of a genius as he was.
The fact that Aizen could easily get perfect scores in his academic classes alone made that clear.
"No."
Aizen shook his head. "Kaido is fundamentally about precise control over your own Reiatsu. It takes diligent practice. There are no shortcuts."
Kisaragi Akira sighed helplessly and turned his gaze to the white mouse on the desk.
He picked it up by its slender neck with his left hand and held a scalpel in his right, trying to decide where to make an incision.
But just then, an inexplicable shudder welled up inside him.
Kisaragi Akira shuddered instinctively.
Then came a crack. The white mouse's neck snapped.
Aizen shook his head with a sigh.
Even in the safest class, Kaido, this guy could still find a way to cause trouble.
The Kaido teacher seemed to notice what Kisaragi Akira had done. His brows furrowed, and he hurried over in three quick strides.
Seeing him approach, Kisaragi Akira set the mouse back on the desk and made one last desperate attempt.
Emerald-green Kaido light blossomed, enveloping the "corpse," which seemed to have lost every trace of life.
[Miraculous Hands] activated!
The next moment,
under the Kaido teacher's astonished gaze, the broken neck slipped back into place, and the white mouse came back to life.
At that moment, the dead returned to life!
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