Trouble!?

"Mask of flesh and bone, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man! Inferno and pandemonium, draw the sea toward the south, march on! Way of Destruction No. 31: Shakkaho!" (Incanted in one second)

"BOOM!"

If they had been merely surprised by the peculiarity of the incantation itself just moments ago, the Captain and Kirinji were now truly stunned.

The two stared, dumbfounded, at a crater roughly the same size as one produced by a full-length incantation. What on earth had just happened?

Because Ichiro's incantation speed was so rapid, even with the warning, they had failed to react in time.

"Ichiro... what... was that?" the Captain asked, her expression solemn as she paused.

"High-Speed Incantation. It's a Kido technique I developed while studying the incantation texts. The goal is to compress the chant time without sacrificing power or increasing consumption, thereby enhancing its practical value. The standard is to recite the full incantation within one second. It must be spoken; mere thought has no effect. Ultimately, the essence of a Kido incantation is a micro-ritual offered to the world, so even with High-Speed Incantation, one cannot bypass this. The speed of the words can change, but the intonation must remain constant."

"..." Kirinji fell silent. He had only two words to describe this.

A monster!

Had they not thought of this themselves?

No!

Ichiro was not the first to have this idea; they had considered this approach long ago, but they couldn't execute it.

They had been forced to settle for developing Incantation Abandonment instead.

Throughout history, Ichiro was the only one to achieve this, and what was even more terrifying was that he seemed to have plans to popularize it.

Invention is difficult, but mass adoption is even harder. To combine both—only a monster could do that.

Sighing, Kirinji said, "With this skill alone, if it spreads, once your strength matures, there will surely be a place for you in the Royal Guard!"

"Ahem!"

Kirinji glanced at the Captain, who was coughing softly, and smiled. "Don't worry, Retsu, I won't steal him from you. I'm just saying this kid has potential; his strength is still far too lacking."

The Captain shifted her gaze, smiling thinly. "Even if his strength were enough, I wouldn't give him up. Ichiro is the future of our Squad 4."

The future? Is she still not giving up on that idea, Retsu? Kirinji's eyes dimmed slightly, but he immediately turned to look at Ichiro as if nothing had happened.

As for the tug-of-war between the two big shots, Ichiro acted as if he had heard nothing. He didn't take Kirinji's words to heart. Although Kirinji and the Captain were friends, he didn't trust Kirinji. What if Kirinji was just jealous of his magnificent appearance and was trying to "praise him to death"?

Praise-killing was the easiest way to ruin a genius, so Ichiro would never fall for it!

"So, are you planning to analyze all existing incantation texts for Kaido and then re-categorize them? Isn't that too much trouble?"

"Yes, Lord Kirinji, it is extremely troublesome. But as I said before, this is not a futile effort. Even if we fail to complete the incantation text for Kaido in the end, it will still push Kido a great step forward. For instance, my High-Speed Incantation currently only applies to a few Kido, but once this technique is fully perfected and applicable to all Kido, Kido might surpass the Zanpakuto and leap to become the head of the four arts: Kido, Zanjutsu, Hoho, and Hakuda!"

Kirinji nodded, eyes narrowed. This was indeed true. The reason Kido seemed lackluster in high-end combat was that the incantation time was too long, while Incantation Abandonment lacked power. One could increase the power, but the consumption was too high, making it feel quite mediocre.

But if one could use High-Speed Incantation, reciting one per second, one could fire fifty or sixty in a minute. Even if high-level incantations had high consumption, with Kirinji's Reiryoku, firing a dozen full-length No. 99s in a minute would be no problem at all!

This technique would greatly improve the practical value of Kido. Although it wasn't perfected yet, there would eventually be a day when it was.

"Very well, it's settled. Come over every weekend afternoon; I will tutor you for half a day. I will teach you all my knowledge of Kaido. How much you learn depends on your own ability." As he said this, Kirinji Tenjiro looked immensely proud, completely failing to notice the strange expression on the Captain's face nearby.

Back when she had first decided to give Ichiro private lessons, she had also held one class a week, leaving the middle of the week for Ichiro to reflect. Her original plan was to teach him some advanced knowledge to polish his arrogance and let him settle down for a few years.

And then... after one semester, Ichiro had hollowed her out... leaving her with nothing but centuries of practical experience.

At this moment, Tenjiro looked so much like her back then.

However, she wouldn't be kind enough to warn Tenjiro. She was eager for Ichiro to learn more. Seeing that Tenjiro was getting into the spirit of it, the Captain smiled slightly and turned to walk out of the training ground.

The Dharma should not be transmitted to the ears of the many; although Tenjiro didn't care, she still had to be discreet.

In the blink of an eye, another semester passed. Same place, same people, different states...

Ichiro and the Captain were still the same as when they had first arrived.

Full of smiles, while Kirinji Tenjiro had turned completely gray-white...

Everything that could be taught had already been learned by Ichiro. The rest were his own secret techniques, which obviously couldn't be taught to Ichiro. So, all he had left to teach, just like the Captain, was experience...

He, the dignified Hot Spring Demon, had actually been hollowed out of his knowledge by a second-year—oh, he was a third-year now—by a third-year student!

It was a disgrace of a lifetime!

"Sigh~ let's end the lessons here. I have nothing left to teach you. The rest depends on you. Note that while your Kaido theory is now second only to mine and Retsu's, it is still just theory. You need to polish the details of many techniques. And then, there's this." As he spoke, Kirinji Tenjiro pulled a book from somewhere and handed it to Ichiro.

"This contains the incantation texts I've analyzed during this time. It's a bit thin... I had intended to teach you for four years and give you a surprise... but I only finished this much. The rest is up to you. Good luck."

"Is Teacher Kirinji going back?"

"Yes, we have many things to attend to. If Retsu hadn't insisted repeatedly, I wouldn't have come out. But looking at it now, it was worth it." The color returned to Kirinji Tenjiro's body. Although Ichiro had given him quite a few shocks, overall, he was very gratified.

"It is all thanks to Teacher's guidance!" Ichiro bowed from the bottom of his heart. He had learned a lot from Kirinji Tenjiro, not just knowledge of Kaido, but many things that would be of great help to his future path.

However, facing Ichiro's bow, Kirinji Tenjiro remained unmoved. His aura suddenly changed, and a Reiryoku as vast as an abyss surged out, pressing down entirely on Ichiro!

"Tenshin Ichiro, what is your ideal for the future?"

Interlude

"Lord Ichiro, can you still not hear my name?"

"Why? Why can my name not reach you, my Lord?"

"Why? Lord Ichiro's voice is becoming more and more blurred... why..."

"Lord Ichiro, my name is World, Heav..."

"Lord Ichiro, I will always wait for you, waiting for you to call... my name..."