Awaken, Flame Sparrow!

After lying on the ground and laughing for a while, Ichiro gradually quieted down, though the smile lingering at the corners of his mouth made his mood perfectly clear.

Ichiro got to his feet and walked to the center of the Transmutation Circle. He picked up the Zanpakuto on the ground, examined it, then tucked it into his waist beside the Zanpakuto World. Once the two swords were together, Ichiro, as their owner, could clearly sense something strange. This sword was dead. It was merely a weapon, not a true Zanpakuto.

But this was all within Ichiro's calculations. Calmly, he headed to the training ground and began running various demonstrations, collecting data.

That evening, Ichiro lay on the ground beneath a lit lamp, constantly adding to the Mimicry Zanpakuto's transmutation data in a book. Since he had conceived the idea from the very beginning, the Mimicry Zanpakuto technology could now be reproduced without Alchemy, just like the Reiryoku recovery potion. The only difference was in efficiency and quality.

In other words, it couldn't be mass-produced.

This was actually much like modern science. All technology began as a product of the laboratory. Before it could be put into mass production and practical use, many obstacles still had to be overcome.

But that wasn't something Ichiro needed to worry about. His approach was much like that of the scientists in his first life: he would focus on research, and leave the actual mass production and rollout entirely to others. That would save him a great deal of effort, and might even bring some pleasant surprises.

After all, scientific research was never something one person could manage alone. Take the famous scientists from his first life, like Yuan, Tu, and Qian. They were all exceptional researchers with extraordinary achievements, but even they had enormous teams working behind them.

Then there was Professor Yang Zhenning, whose name was spoken in the same breath as Newton and Einstein, whose coffins never seemed to stay shut. Without an excellent research environment abroad, he might not have achieved such remarkable results.

So Ichiro didn't need to take everything on himself. He only had to do what interested him. After living two lives, his mind was far sharper than before. He was confident he could keep up with anyone.

Early the next morning, Ichiro woke from his sleep and rubbed his eyes. He flipped through his new notebook, filled from cover to cover, and smiled with satisfaction. After tidying up the place, he hung the Mimicry Zanpakuto from his waist and left the underground chamber.

He had to go tell the captain this good news and surprise her. The rise of Squad 4 began today!

"Captain~ Captain~ Are you there, Captain?" As soon as Ichiro entered the barracks, he called out loudly. The more he thought about it along the way, the more excited he became. This was a revolutionary invention for Squad 4!

"Whoosh—Thump!"

As Ichiro shouted, a milky-white Reiryoku projectile flew out of the captain's office and struck him squarely in the forehead.

"What's with all the shouting? Since when did you become so rash?"

As she spoke, Captain Unohana slowly emerged from the office with Vice-Captain Kiyonosuke. Both were smiling as they looked at Ichiro. When Ichiro had suddenly left the day before, leaving behind only a note, they had been a little worried. But now that he was clearly alive and well, they could finally relax.

"Hehe~ Captain, come on, let's go to the training ground! I have something great to show you!"

"Oh? Is that so? Then let's go to the smaller training ground out back and get you familiar with it. That's where sword training will take place from now on. But if what you're showing me doesn't impress me, you'll be swinging your sword all day! I'll explain things to the school."

With that, Captain Unohana and Kiyonosuke headed toward the back, smiling.

Ichiro's excited expression froze, then he curled his lip. Looked like he really wouldn't get to practice his sword today. What a shame~ He followed the captain and the vice-captain, wearing the Dragon King's Nike grin.

"Captain, watch closely!" Standing in the middle of the training ground, Ichiro drew the Mimicry Zanpakuto and spoke confidently.

Hmm? Two swords? I didn't notice that just now. This sword is interesting. Kiyonosuke's gaze flickered as he thought to himself. As a vice-captain, he was confident in his eyesight. Before Ichiro drew his sword, he had only sensed one.

Captain Unohana, too, hadn't noticed that Ichiro had two swords at his waist. But she was far stronger than Kiyonosuke, and at a glance she understood why: Ichiro's Zanpakuto was deliberately concealing itself!

This Zanpakuto has such a strong spirit! There are still so many secrets to Zanpakuto, it seems.

In an instant, their thoughts raced, though only a moment passed in reality. Ichiro drew his sword, holding it across his chest in his right hand while pressing his left index and middle fingers against the blade. With the Dragon King's Nike grin on his face, he swiftly swept his fingers along it and shouted:

"Awaken, Flame Sparrow!"

"Chirp!"

"Whoosh!"

To Captain Unohana and Kiyonosuke's astonishment, a brief cry rang out as scorching orange-red flames burst from the blade, forming a fiery edge!

"Is this... Shikai? No! This sword is dead! Its spiritual pressure hasn't changed, either. Ichiro, what is this?!"

"As expected of the captain—you saw through it at a glance." Ichiro waved the Flame Sparrow in his hand. "It isn't Shikai, and it isn't a Zanpakuto. To be precise, it isn't a true Zanpakuto. It's a Mimicry Zanpakuto!"

"A Mimicry Zanpakuto?"

"Right. I won't go into the details of how it works. Put simply, it imitates the effects of various Zanpakuto after Shikai. By constructing Kido techniques, it achieves similar effects. This is only an early prototype, so its power is limited. Of course..."

Ichiro changed tack and continued, "If that were all, it would just be a portable Kido technique with a fixed trigger. It wouldn't deserve to be called a Mimicry Zanpakuto. The reason it's called that is because, like a true Zanpakuto, it can improve on its own!

"Even without manually optimizing the Kido techniques inscribed on it, the Asauchi's unique structure will gradually refine them through years of use. I don't yet understand how that works; I'm only making use of it. But one thing is certain: no matter how much it changes, it can never become a true Zanpakuto. It's just a powerful weapon."

After speaking, Ichiro stood quietly, holding the steadily burning Flame Sparrow as he watched Captain Unohana absorb this explosive news.

After a moment, Captain Unohana closed her eyes briefly, then opened them and asked, "Can anyone use it?"

"Because it can grow, it's bound to its user. Only the first person to activate it can use it."

"Can it imitate any Zanpakuto?"

"That depends on its abilities. For now, it can only reproduce simple ones."

"How much can it grow?"

"Taking the Flame Sparrow in my hand as an example, I expect it can become the strongest fire-type Zanpakuto beneath Ryūjin Jakka."

The captain's pupils widened slightly. She knew Ichiro. He could be unserious at times, but he was always measured when it came to matters like this. She slowly let out a breath, then asked again, "Then can you make a healing-type Zanpakuto, too?"