"Phew..."
The black-and-red ribbons behind Ichiro slowly faded, revealing the still-shaken young lady. Urahara also emerged slowly from the shadows with his sword in hand, staring in surprise at the corpses covering the ground.
"You call that being bad at fighting?"
"Killing and fighting are different. My Magic Bullet has no effect on you. No matter how fancy an attack is, it's useless if it can't get through your defenses."
"Fair enough. In that case, it doesn't seem all that useful. You'll need to make it stronger."
"Yeah, I'm already working on that. I've been a little stuck lately because it doesn't have the same effect as the Magic Bullet."
"..." Urahara's mouth twitched. He really wanted to grab Ichiro by the collar and ask him: We're about equally smart, so why are you always so quick to figure things out?
In truth, Urahara had misunderstood. Ichiro wasn't actually that fast at research. As mentioned before, he was still learning. With both Kido and Alchemy, he was drawing on what others had discovered, along with the knowledge he'd accumulated in his previous life. Urahara, on the other hand, had an exceptionally active mind. He excelled at inventing and loved doing it, so of course he took his time.
If he were fast at this too, Ichiro would have to question his own existence! If even someone with a cheat couldn't keep up, what was the point?
At that moment, the young lady beside them bowed to the three of them. "Thank you. My name is Kuchiki..."
But none of them heard what she said. Their expressions turned grave as they watched dozens more Soul Reapers charging toward them!
They knew things had taken a serious turn!
Why was Shino Academy safe?
Because it belonged to the Head Captain!
Because elite members of the First Division were stationed there every day!
Because all its teachers were Soul Reapers who had retired from the front lines!
That was why the Captain had told Ichiro to stay at school these past few days: it was safe here. But now, nearly a hundred Soul Reapers had barged in across two successive waves!
And the barrier still hadn't gone up!
This was bad. Really bad!
As Ichiro watched the Soul Reapers charging toward them, he glanced at their sleeves and collars, his heart sinking slightly. Half of them were nobles...
Besides meaning he'd have to be careful when fighting them, that suggested something else: a great noble clan was behind this!
Otherwise, they wouldn't dare attack Shino Academy!
That made the situation dangerous...
Not for the Kuchiki girl, but for Yoruichi...
She was the only member of the Five Great Noble Clans' main families in this generation to attend the academy. The only other one was a branch-family member of the Kuchiki Clan—the young lady standing behind them.
But honestly, sending this many guards for her was overkill. If he assumed the worst, then Yoruichi had to be the target...
"Yoruichi, can we kill these ones?"
"These aren't in the same league as the ones just now. Even number-fifty Bakudo with Incantation Abandonment could handle them."
Yoruichi's detailed answer confirmed what Ichiro had suspected. He sighed, but didn't change his question.
"Can we kill them?"
Yoruichi turned toward him in surprise. Seeing the calm look behind his glasses, she nodded. "Try not to kill them all. But if you can't control yourself and do, that's fine too. Nothing will happen to you before I'm dead!"
Ichiro dismissed his twin guns, pushed up his glasses, and slowly crouched, placing both hands on the ground. He smiled. "No need to say that. I've been recording audio and video from the moment this started. If something goes wrong, distance yourself from this immediately. The Captain will save me."
With that, Ichiro closed his eyes and concentrated. This was the first time he'd attempted Alchemy on such a large scale since mastering Reishi Alchemy, and he needed to focus.
Basic structure, analyzed.
Basic composition, disassembled.
Reishi recombination, complete!
"Ha!"
Ichiro's eyes snapped open. He let out a sharp cry and pressed both hands down hard!
White currents rippled across the ground. As the Soul Reapers braced themselves for a possible attack, the earth suddenly vanished beneath their feet. A massive pit appeared, and they all began to fall!
Before they could react, the Reishi that had been broken down reassembled above them into a lid, sealing them inside like a mass of mud!
Reishi Sand Waterfall Funeral!
"Phew..."
Ichiro rose, exhausted from the mental strain, and let out a long breath. He wiped away a bead of sweat that wasn't there.
Yoruichi and Urahara looked at him in confusion. From what they knew of Ichiro, this shouldn't have been particularly difficult for him, nor should it have had much killing power.
While they were still puzzling over it, Ichiro turned around, faced away from them, and snapped his fingers.
"Snap!"
The long silence made things a little awkward. Just as Urahara was about to break it, something unexpected happened...
"BOOM!!!!"
A tremendous explosion erupted behind them. The shock wave sent huge cracks spreading across the open ground where they stood!
Even the walls of the nearby classroom building had developed several clear cracks!
Everyone turned around in shock. The place where so many Soul Reapers had just been buried alive had become a massive crater!
Dozens of charred bodies lay inside!
Of the fifty-odd people, only a handful still had any signs of life! And if they weren't treated quickly, they'd be dead in no time!
"..."
"..."
"...Gulp..." Urahara swallowed. "What the hell is that explosive? Is it really that powerful?"
"Of course it is. The more of it you use, the more powerful it gets. A tiny bit in a bullet can already pack that kind of punch. Imagine what a lot more can do."
"...I thought it was mainly powered by Kido... That's terrifying..."
"It's not bad. Honestly, they were weaker than I expected. This is my worst explosive, which is why I had to use so much. I thought it would leave them half-dead, but who knew they wouldn't be able to use Kido? Sure enough, modern Kido still has a lot of shortcomings."
"..." Urahara picked at his ear, wondering if he'd heard that right. "That's your worst explosive? What would the best one do, especially in that quantity?"
"That much? Uh... It could probably blow away about ten Seireiteis," Ichiro said calmly.
"!!!" x 4
Seeing their expressions, Ichiro rolled his eyes. Realizing they'd misunderstood, he quickly explained, "It's not as ridiculous as you think. The destruction radius is huge, but its damage against a single target isn't much. One Danku is enough to block it completely. No matter how large the blast, it won't work unless it's focused. That's what I'm working on now. It's powerful, but not very practical. All it can do is clear out groups."
Ichiro wasn't lying. Leaving aside powerful defensive Bakudo, any one of the three signature footwork techniques in the Soul Reaper world would let someone escape the blast radius in a few breaths. They wouldn't emerge completely unharmed, but they definitely wouldn't die. At worst, they'd suffer minor scrapes.
"Let's leave that aside for now. Yoruichi, the academy isn't safe anymore. Where should we go?" Ichiro asked gravely, turning to her. He hadn't forgotten that the danger still hadn't passed.
"I want to go home! To the Shihoin Clan! If they managed to get so many people inside, they probably have an accomplice here. We're strong enough, but if the one who comes is..."
"BOOM!!!"
Such powerful spiritual pressure!!! x 5
Before you continue